Five memories before one

I'm not sure the order these come in, but there are five memories that I have from before I was one, after I was born and before I was one. That's for certain.

The first one I recall specifically, very vividly, is two pieces of music - two songs, that is. My mother was a professional musician and I traveled with her on the road from when I was born until age 5. Of course, I didn't know the names of the songs at that point in my life, but later on, I found out the names were "Begin the Beguine" and "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire."

Also, sheep. That's the second memory. My grandparents had thousands of sheep. They kept some of those that were blind right at the ranch house. I was at the ranch a lot, and I remember feeling their wool. My grandmother would hold me up to touch them.

Third, I remember a lot of pain and doctors hovering over me in a room. Later on in life, I found out that I had a lot of problems with my ears. There was light on a table nearby. It wasn't casting a lot of light into the room. I remember looking up and seeing those people, and they were doing something with my ears.

Fourth, I remember something I didn't know what it was at the time. I just remember these big white squares on the grass with brown things on them. Thousands of pieces of brown things. Later I learned that my grandmother, who had an apple orchard, would peel and core the apples and cut them up in pieces and put them out on the front yard of the ranch house on sheets to dry in the sun.

Fifth, I can remember my grandmother holding me up to touch and feel flowers that I found out later were morning glories.

Posted By: Bruce Davis
Writer, Poulsbo, Washington