"A grownup is a child with layers on." - Woody Harrelson
Peeling back the layers.
Travel back with me to Carthage, TX and the days when I was no more than five years old. I don't know for sure if all of these memories stem from that one summer day or if several melded into one in my mind. It was the Fourth of July. We were at a picnic table in Willie's shady back yard. We had hamburgers and French fries. Homemade French fries. I have a very vivid memory of sitting on that picnic table, eating those fries. Just cool enough for me to eat. I can taste the grains of salt sprinkled upon them.. Each fry was a very pale gold all over, with the edges slightly darker. I remember eating off all the edges first, and then the rest of the fry.
Later there was ice cold watermelon. I remember Daddy showing me how to spit the seeds. Trying to get me to do it. Making sort of a contest out of it.
I remember very late in the afternoon when shade was all over the left side of our yard. Being out in the San Augustine grass and me convincing my Daddy to play Leap Frog with me. I had never played. I had seen it somewhere, perhaps on a cartoon. It seemed like such a wonderful game. My sweet, dear Daddy obliged me. It must of been a sight! All 6' and 200 lbs of him playing on the grass with a tiny me. I'm sure there was no way I cleared him when I tried to leap him. The game itself was probably a fiasco. But the memory is warm, rich and fills me with a father's love.
What about you? Any extra vivid memories of some single event? Any first times seem extra special? Ever convince a parent to do some ridiculous thing with you?
Thanks for sharing!
Barbara
YES! And they both center around my daddy.
ReplyDelete1. I remember the first time he gave me a ride on his motorcycle...how totally terrified and thrilled I was to be on there. It seemed like he was going a hundred miles an hour around our yard. Of course, he wasn't going that fast, but it sure seemed like it!
2. Vivid memory...walking by Daddy's chair. One never did that unless they were in the frame of mind to be tickled and tickle he did. He would have me laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe. Just thinking about it, even now, makes my tummy tickle all over again. :)
I don't think that I ever convinced my parents to do anything silly with me, unless, of course, Daddy's grab and tickle counts and I didn't have to talk him into that. haha
Have a great day and thanks for commenting on my blog!
It's funny how much Daddy's seem to like to gently tease or tickle their little girls! My Dad would do stuff like that, and I have seen my husband do the same with Hannah and my son do the same with his baby girl.
DeleteMy outdoor games were always with people my age, but indoors was a different matter! The earliest memory is of me and my mother playing at 'memory testing' with a pack of cards, I must have been around 5-6. We soon graduated to checkers and snakes and ladders and then one year someone got me a Monopoly, and I badgered my parents and my uncle (who lived with us at the time) into game sessions that lasted forever.
ReplyDeleteI love your A-Z theme! What a great trip down memory lane and such a priceless record for your family and friends. Simply beautiful!
Best wishes,
Nilanjana.
Ninja Minion
Madly-in-Verse
I have always loved cards and all types of board games. That does sound like a you had a lot a fun together! What great memories.
DeleteI always find it odd how and when we have our earliest memories. At what point do those memories fade from our mind? And why do the ones we retain, stay? My oldest memory was being in a house, I don't recall if it was ours or one we were visiting. I was probably three or four. For whatever reason I found the light fixture of the sink fascinating. At each end, it was rounded so it kind of resembled someone had taken a bite out of it. For whatever reason, remember going back and forth from each end pretending it was a pickle, and taking a bite of it.
ReplyDeleteYep, never can tell what will catch the imagination and attention of a child.
DeleteWhen we moved into town our new neighbors spoke often of their two sons Gene and Charlie who were away in the Military. They planned to have a big barbeque when they come home and they did. They dug a big hole to barbeque a goat. Probably the first time I had ever had barbeque, Back then it wasn't on every corner like it is now.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Gene and Charlie got a great welcome home party! Thanks for sharing that special memory.
DeleteSweet post today. Reminds me of the song by Miranda Lambert - The house that built me.
ReplyDeleteI do remember me and my two cousins at my great grannys house, sitting off her back porch and her sprinkling salt on our watermelon and then my uncle telling us to spit the seeds. we would see how far we could spit them off our porch into the dirt. haha!
Ha! Yes, I can just picture it in my head. I'm glad you were able to swing by and share that!
DeleteThis reminds me of playing 'hide and seek' with my grandfather as a child. What fun I had, and I imagine it was fun for him, too. He was the absolute best and I miss him so.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure he treasured every moment he played with "his little girl".
DeleteThose french fries are making me hungry! They sound delicious! I remember playing lots of hide and seek growing up :)
ReplyDeletebetty
Home cut and fried French fried potatoes is still one of my favorite things!
DeleteOh your description of french fries made my mouth water! Wonderful post, Barbara:-)
ReplyDeleteMy great grandma didn't have a driver's license but there was a car in the drive and she needed groceries (I wanted candy) and I convinced her we should go. We mowed down a stop sign but made it to the store and back:-)
Oh, my gosh!! Diedre how old were you? You were both very blessed to make it with no trouble.
DeleteI do have some vivid memories from my childhood. The one that comes to mind is when I asked my mom if Santa Claus would still find me. It was Christmas Eve. We'd just had a fire at our house, and we were going to the grandparents to stay (would be there for a few months while we rebuilt). But all I cared about was Santa Claus. I was 3.
ReplyDeleteHey, that's a very important thing! And it proves you were thinking sharp and clear, even at that age, if you saw that not being home could be a problem.
DeleteI never asked my mother to do anything "childish," but she used to indulge me and sit still to watch little skits I'd perform or stories I'd tell.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds nice! My sisters tell me when it was just them and Mama, they'd make up a skit and when Mama got home from work, they'd have her a place and some ice water or coffee and put on their skit for her. They all remembered it very fondly.
DeleteWhat sweet memories to cherish. Too bad there isn't a home movie of the leap frog event.
ReplyDeleteMy parents never invested in home movie gear. Aunt Billie and Uncle Lenox did, and I remember watching some reels at their house that had us in them. But after all these years, those are probably gone or there is nothing left to play them on.
DeleteA wonderful post of tender loving memories! The french fries sound delicious. Your posts are reopening my childhood memories!!! :)
ReplyDeleteWonderful! So glad your own memories are starting to flow! That is half of my goal for this theme! My granddaughter brings my memories to life.
DeleteWhat a great post! I hope one day my four kids can reflect and think of my husband and I.
ReplyDeleteShelly @ http://hangryfork.com
I'm sure they will! Most all kids do at some point, don't they?
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