Outside the quiet life

In my first memory, I was a babe-in-arms. I must have been 4 or 5 months old, because I was at that age when I couldn't roll over, so I could be put on a bed and expected not to roll off. My parents were visiting some friends and they took me with them. I can still see the pictures in my mind!

Because they revisited this couple years later, I kind of figured out what was happening in my memory. They were building their house and were maybe having a house-warming party.

I remember going from the car, down the side of the house, past some piled-up dirt, over a plank over a ditch, and into the daylight basement of the building. I remember seeing that and going into a whole room full of people, a room packed with people. I was an only child, and had a quiet life, so this was thrilling and exciting for me.

I was passed around and made a fuss over, and I liked that. But then my mother took me into the room where everyone was leaving their coats and put me on top of the coats. I guess she thought I would go to sleep, but I remember being very unhappy, really mad about it. I didn't want to be left in a pile of coats when all those people were out there, so she came and got me up and held me in her lap. I got to take in all the sights.

When you're a little baby, you're just immobile, but I remember being immobile, yet seeing and hearing all this stuff.

Posted By: D. D.
FEMA disaster-assistance employee, Benson, Arizona