My earliest memory
/My very first memory is of sitting in Mrs. Dot's class in Mini-Skool, just down the road from my father (the Surgeon)'s office.
I was three. It was the mid-1970's. Both my parents worked, and I was in nursery or day-care full days since pretty much whenever, but it was close, and I remember that school with pretty warm memories.
The single distinct memory that stands out is of sitting in a corner, flipping through a book that told a story of a little boy determined to explore the world with his dog. Everywhere he went, he planted little yellow flags. The dog was little and hairy. I remember the pictures of him climbing a mountain (plant a flag), hiking through the woods (plant a flat), leaving footprint in the snow (plant a flag). I had no memory of the name of that book, however.
I was three. I couldn't possibly have been 'reading' the book. But the story still came across, and it stuck in my mind.
Last week, I found that book.
The story was pretty much exactly what I remembered. The images brought back those memories of sitting quietly, flipping through the pages. And it was something that I was excited to share with my own kids.
We've read it several dozen times together now.
They seem to like it, too.
It makes me wonder what my own kids first or favorite memories are going to be. Hopefully something good.
