My Earliest Memory

     What is your earliest memory?  I've thought about this recently but it's hard to determine if my early memories are actual memories or stories that were repeated to me frequently about my early years.  It would be nice to remember the joy when taking a first step or speaking a first word but these are not memories that I have.  

     I don't have any early memories of historic events either national or worldly.  Those things were not important to me at the time.  I do remember kindergarten when I was 5 years old, watching cowboy movies (Lone Ranger, Sky King, Roy Rogers, Cisco Kid and more) on black and white TV.  Many times I would turn on the TV and see the Indian Head Test pattern before the actual programing started at 6:00 am.  Not having TV programming 24 hours a day was normal at that time, if fact you were one of the lucky families if you had TV at all.

     I remember playing with my pals around the neighborhood and my cousin Kath, she was a year older and much more outgoing than I.  Others thought my parents were strict and I guess I did as well at the time but in fact they were just being good parents.  They weren't overprotective because they allowed me to play sports and do all the things kids like to do with some basic rules.

     School and church picnics are memories that remain with me but not with many specific details just a blur of activity.  I remember watching my dad, uncles and grandfather playing Pinochle on Friday nights but I was an old kid of 10 years then.  I have mostly pleasant memories of my youth nothing really traumatic from an adult viewpoint.  As a kid, traumatic events are viewed differently, so peeing in your pants in kindergarten or having a fist fighting with a neighborhood kid might seem like a traumatic event for a kid but when you look at the bigger picture it's nothing.

     I feel lucky to have good memories of my young life but I wish they were more vivid and detailed.   For me the earliest memories go back to age 5 but they are few.  What are your earliest memories?