What's the MOST Vivid/Magical/Fondest Memory You Have from Your Childhood?

It's kind of hard to say. There's not just 1 for me. I loved when I still believed in Santa Claus & having that excitement of waking up early every Christmas morning to unwrap presents under the tree & seeing the cookie crumbs left on the empty plate. I still remember that I actually heard the jingle of bells outside one Christmas morning & I was asking my parents if they heard it.

Summer vacations are always fun. My parents took me somewhere every summer.

Also being taken to musicals by my parents & sitting in the audience watching the magic happening on stage.

Riding on the rides at amusement parks w/ my dad. My mom was too scared to ride them, so my dad always rode w/ me.

I think I had a great childhood. OK, I'll stop now!

 

Too many to count.

So these won't necessarily be the "best" but they're the first that occur to me:

- Christmas morning. Eileen and I shared a room, and she was the gutsy one. She's the one who always convinced me to go to the top of the stairs, just to peek and see whether Santa had come yet. Then we had to go back to bed and wait until it was closer to dawn.

- Lake George. Most summers dad packed the whole family of 7 into our station wagon and we headed upstate for a week. This was before seat belts were a big deal. So dad always packed the car so there was room for one child to lay out in the "way back." We took turns napping there. There were, of course, no electronics. So we sang for the whole 5 hours. I remember singing "My Grandfather's Clock." As we girls sang, my brother played the part of the clock: "tick tock tick tock..." We kids saved all year so we would have admission to Gaslight Village.

-One year we drove up to Newfoundland (Canada) to visit my mom's family. My youngest sister was too young, so we brought grandma instead. (My sister stayed with dad's parents.) We got as far as New Brunswick before grandma got ill; at that point we booked airfare for the rest of the trip. (Grandma was fine and lived on her own until she was 93.) It was our first flight.

- My mom is one of 6 kids. Every once in a while-- once a summer maybe??--Uncle John would have a big family party at his house. I remember at the end of the night, we would all gather around his big brick fireplace and the adults would sing the Mitch Miller classics. Eileen and I still remember all the words. (Uncle John had a life altering stroke at the age of 40, so my younger siblings were pretty young.)

- We had a pool in our yard, and spent the whole summer in it. One year my brother and younger sister decided to see what happened when you put soap suds into the filter. What happens is that the whole neighborhood gets a bubble bath, and you have to empty out the pool, scrub it down, and refill it.

- We had a great neighborhood. Each evening after dinner in the summer, we would all gather outside. We would play Spud or Ringolevio or "Wolf." When the street light outside our house went on, it was the clue that everyone had to go in.

- Our house had a fireplace. I remember the Great Blackout (1969??) Mom was pregnant with my youngest sister. Dad was stuck in NYC. So Johnny, who was probably 18 or 19 and lived across the street, stayed overnight in case mom went into labor. We all got sleeping bags and camped out on the living room floor. (Dad's company was brilliant. As soon as they realized what had happened, they got hotel rooms. Dad shared one with a few of the guys he worked with, and got home the next day.)

- Dad smoked a pipe when I was a kid. To this day, the smell of pipe tobacco (Half and Half brand) is the smell of comfort.

- Washington's Birthday-- now President's Day-- was the way Black Friday is now-- huge sales. Mom and Mrs. O would hit the stores-- Alexanders and a few others that no longer exist. Mom had 5 kids, Mrs. O had 3. So they would dive into the tables of sales, and see what they would come up with. Each of us (and each of Mrs. O's daughters) always ended up with a new Easter outfit that day. We have pictures of us on snowy Easter Sundays, modleing our new Easter outfits.

- My grandfather was a HUGE Mets fan. My grandmother was his good luck charm. So if it was a tight situation he always called her into the living room to watch.

I could go on and on and on. I had a wonderful childhood and hope I'm giving a similar one to my kids. They're always asking for stories of my youth. And they always get such a kick out of them.

 

THANK YOU MS. I!!!!!!!

Here's the email I just sent to all my siblings:

Hey guys,

I was just thinking about Christmas and had an idea!

I want to make up a book for mom from all of us.

I want lots of little stories of us growing up-- saving money for Gaslight Village, putting suds into the pool, Half and Half tobacco... you get my drift.

When you get the chance, could you email me whatever you can think of? It can be phrases, paragraphs, whatever.

I'll format them all the same way, and get them into a binder for mom. We can give it to her on Christmas Day.

Maryanne, Kevin, Jay and Pat, feel free to borrow the idea

Talk to you soon.

Here's what I've come up with in the past 2 minutes:

-(I cut and pasted my last post, inserting names and deleting explanations)


I want to tell the stories the way we would tell them to our own kids, explaining who people are.

And I'll give each of you a copy when it's done.

 

Charming idea!

 

Great idea, Alice!

 

My father shot professional fireworks as a hobby. There were always explosives around our house. On my 5th birthday, my dad made everybody go to the back yard, handed me an electric switch, and told me to flip it. Now, I was 5. I knew my dad liked to blow things up, but I was still a little timid. After a little cajoling, I was finally convinced. When I did flip the switch, the entire back yard lit up. My father had taken the line off the clothes line, and used the metal ends to brace a set piece (the stationary "pictures" that you sometimes see lit up) that was a picture of a huge cake and the words "Happy Birthday Mary". I think that's the day my love of explosives was "set on fire". To this day I, like my father, love to blow things up (only in a safe, controlled environment). Most of my most spectacular childhood memories surround fireworks shows. That probably explains a lot...

 

Alice fabulous idea! I think I'll steal it as I love my childhood and can't let go. I look forward to sharing & trying to recreate some of the memories with my daughter. I do a lot of photo book themes but haven't come up with one like that.

mmswm that is so cool. I love fireworks!

 

I remember a huge picnic in my grandparents' yard with the longest tables ever to celebrate our new barn being built. All the workers (Amish men) were lined up at the tables.
Spitting watermelon seeds at my cousins.
Riding bikes
sledding down any hill on the farm
hanging out in the tree house
catching minnows and crayfish in the creek
riding in wagons -esp. the slanted side wagons loaded with corn or oats and grasshoppers

@Alice, we had a party for my mother last week and made a scrapbook for her. She was thrilled!

 

Alice, I had a similar idea for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. When making their scrapbook, I had friends and relatives write, email or call me with memories they had of my parents, and the times they shared together. Some even sent pictures. All of these went into the scrapbook. My parents loved it. The guests at their party loved looking at it as well. Conversations were fun!
This year, I hinted to my SIL that I would like xerox copies of my MIL's recipes put into a photo album. The xerox copy is so that I can see it in her handwriting. (she passed away in May of this year).I hope I receive this as a gift.

 

You're welcome Alice!

 

Fishing with my dad ... getting up early, boat loaded, deciding where to go ... spending the day on the water, eating lunch on the boat

Entertaining myself in the back yard ... usually pretending to be an explorer or Grizzly Adams

Watching the rain from my bedroom window

Spending Saturday's with my dad in the garage as he worked on his race car for the races on Sunday

Walking from my house to my grandmother's house (which I now own) and going with her to the library to get a new week's worth of books

 

Fishing with my dad ... getting up early, boat loaded, deciding where to go ... spending the day on the water, eating lunch on the boat

Entertaining myself in the back yard ... usually pretending to be an explorer or Grizzly Adams

Watching the rain from my bedroom window

Spending Saturday's with my dad in the garage as he worked on his race car for the races on Sunday

Walking from my house to my grandmother's house (which I now own) and going with her to the library to get a new week's worth of books

 

In general I just remember being a very happy child....My love for my family and their love for me is my most vivid memory...

 

I couldn't pick just one memory. I had a great childhood.

• Family Vacations--We'd take weekend trips when I'd have time off school, and we'd take a big summer vacation for a week or two.
• Christmas--We'd always go to my grandmother's house. My aunt & uncle lived with my grandmother, and family friends would always be in and out all evening on Christmas Eve. There were finger foods and people everywhere. The fire department had a sleigh and Santa would come around that evening. He'd give out bags of fruit, candy, and nuts. I never believed in Santa, but he gave me a bag of stuff anyway. We'd open our presents late at night on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day was "quiet time", just for dinner, which included grandmother, aunt & uncle, Mom & Dad, me, and aunt's BFF.
• Friends--I have always had great friends. My elementary school BFF was at my house almost every weekend, and she often went places with us. A lot of our family pictures include her, too. She made some life choices I didn't agree with in middle school, so we went our separate ways. I still think a lot of her, although we don't see each other very much.
• Playing House--I loved to play house. I had a kitchen set in the outbuilding, and I spent a lot of time there. I loved my baby dolls, too. I had lots of Barbie's as well. I also loved roller skating, riding my bike, and playing on my swingset.
• 4-H--I was into the 4-H program. I learned to sew, garden, cook, and make all kinds of crafts. A lot of the things were things I could do with my parents, too.
• Fishing--My dad was a major fisherman. We'd go fishing a lot. I was pretty good at it, too.
• Library--I always LOVED the library. I still remember when I first went. I had no idea that such a thing existed. I still love the library.

 

Ms. I- good idea for a thread.

Alice- that is a good idea.

I will post my fond memories in a bit.

 

Fondest memory: The summers at my grandparents, when they lived in the valley of a mountain in Wyoming. They were there for 10 years. Grandpa had a huge garden and we had horses, lambs, and sometimes wild critters would wander in. There were only 4 other family's around and no TV. In the evening we would get together and play yatzee, greek rummy, and John T would play the fiddle. It was almost out of Little House books plus the electricity and indoor plumbing. Before I moved to Ms. I visited the old place. Sadly, it has been abandoned and only 1 house remains...the dirt road to the location is not being maintained so soon with the brutal Wyoming winters it will be a forgotten place. But always in mine and my cousins hearts

 

Weekends with my grandparents on my Mom's side of the family. For a very long time I was the only grandchild that lived close enough to spend weekends so I was treated like a princess for many years. It was Friday night dinner at out favorite restaurant. They knew my grandparents by name and they new my exact order, EVERYTIME!!! If we didn't go out to eat I would help my grandmother cook dinner. Then when Grandpa got up from his cat nap (after work he always took a 20 minute nap) he would come in the kitchen and dance with my grandma while she was cooking. Saturday morning trip to the base for grocery shopping. My grandpa and I would share a foot long hot dog and a drink. My grandparents held hands in the car, in the parking lot. Then we would get home, we all helped putting away the groceries. Then Grandpa would take the bags to the living and his favorite chair. He would watch the Westerns on TV and fall asleep after he folded the bags. That's where I watched many Roy Rogers, Ma and Pa Kettle movies. Just thinking about that time is making me smile. What great memories!!!! I miss you Grandpa even after nearly 20 years!!!

 

The first time that my parents took me to Disney World in the summer of 1972. It opened in Oct 1971 and they took me and a friend the following summer. This began my lifelong love of Disney. The magic has never worn off even after the many trips we have taken there, it is just as magical to walk down Main Street and see the Castle for the first time in a trip.

 

This is such a fun thread to read!!!!

 

It's so lovely you have nice memories of your parents from when you were a child. Your posts don't always convey a strong connection to them...it's nice that you have those memories....

 

My first time was in 1972. I was wearing a blue skort with an elephant buckle and a white t shirt. Did you see me?:lol:

 

Glad you guys like it! It's great to read everyone's stories.

Thanks. Oh my mom & are pretty close & I consider her my best friend, but it's still a mother/daughter relationship, not friend type relationship like how some moms & daughters are. My dad's a great man & always had my best interest. He's just a difficult man to get along with.

 

*Helping my grandmother decorate for Christmas when I was little. She would always go all out and start decorating mid October usually and leaves it up till the end of January. When I was little I would always go over and help her clean and then crawl around on the floor to set up the little villages under the tree and all of her doll stuff. She has this 3 foot plastic light up Santa that after Thanksgiving dinner we would fight over who got to drag him out of the closet and stick it in her big front windows.

*Playing Canasta with all of my grandparents and great grandparents. I learned when I was pretty little, probably when I was 7 or 8. Every holiday we would play for hours. Me and my dad's mom would partner against my grandfather and dad or Granny.

*My grandfather teaching me how to play solitaire. I have no idea how old I was, but I was small enough to fit comfortably in his lap. He showed me how to play and played through the first hand with me. I remember I won...I still don't know whether or not he fixed the cards, but it honestly wouldn't surprise me if he had. Playing cards with him is probably the best memory I have since he passed away.

 

Teaching history...you made me remember Canasta. I loved playing it with my grandparents and great grandparents and cousins. Great memories

 

I remember a specific time fishing with my grandfather. My earliest memory is my mom telling me that my sisters were coming to live with us all the time. I remember baking with my grandmother. I remember playing with my cousin at my grandmother's house. I just remember specific little snippets.

 

I remember ripping the bows off the packages under the Christmas tree when I was seven months old, and riding my rocking horse in front of the tree.

At my first birthday party, I crawled under the table and played with a rim of glue at the table joint, and played with my Fisher-Price barn that made animal noises.

 

I had an awesome childhood and had (and still do have!) the greatest parents I could have ever hoped for. They are more than just parents, but more like my best friends.

My favorite memory:

-My mother teaching me to play harp. My earliest memory was at around five. I remember her sitting behind me while she took my fingers and guided them to the right strings. Just in the nicest way. She was always super patient.

Excuse me. I need to go call my mom and tell her how much I appreciate her!

Thanks Ms. I!

 

I'm going to enjoy thinking this evening and coming back tomorrow to post mine! (I will have to narrow them down; I had a wonderful childhood and a very strong memory...)

 

Summers in Maine

We had a log cabin up on a hill overlooking a "pond"--really a lake in any other state. No electricity, no running water, 3 rooms. There was the kitchen area, a living room with a huge stone fireplace, a couch, and two beds; and the huge screened porch that ran across the front of it. Most of us slept on the porch.

There were the five kids in my family plus family friends plus cousins all up and down the pond. We didn't get out of our bathing suits until the end of the day. We spent the entire day fishing, canoeing, swimming, rowing, playing on the wooden raft, playing in the woods, hiking up to the blueberry fields, toting water from the spring, and occasionally I helped my mother wash clothes in the pond. She used an old-fashioned washboard, a bar of laundry soap, and a huge tin bucket. I would take them out to where I could barely stand and swish them around to rinse them out. She'd have adult female relatives with her on the shore, and the ladies would all be sitting up on the rocks laughing about something.

When she was a little girl, she spend the summers on the same pond with her cousins.

In the evenings, the fireplace always had a fire, and I'd snuggle down with a flashlight and some old book that I'd find in the cabin. That would be after my father or some adult told some night time story that he'd make up, leaving us all in stitches. (He wasn't allowed to tell scary stories.) Or they'd talk about when they were kids.

It's no wonder that I took my kid to the same place when he was young and he spend the summer on the pond, playing with his cousins...children of the cousins that I played with, who were children of the cousins that my mother played with.

 

I would definitely say the time I spent with my neighborhood friends in the summer. I couldn't have asked for a better neighborhood to grow up in. There were so many kids, we all got along so well, and we loved being outside. There was nothing like a summer night where our parents were hanging out late, and we were running around, playing ghost in the graveyard. During the day we would ride bikes to the local beverage mart and fill a bag with candy for only a couple of dollars.

Oh, the good old days!

 

I can't say with certainty what my first memory is, but if I had to guess it was an uneventful day when my mother was driving herself crazy trying to find the case to her 110 camera—I remember that case well: hard construction, a folder-over lid that snapped closed, tan leather exterior and red suede-like interior. I remember just standing there watching her trying to find it. Yeah, not exciting, but there it is.

One of the most vivid memories was the night my parents' marriage ended. I was only five, but that night has stuck with me. Ugly and sad.

Many fond memories. They include Dad building our playhouse and the years of entertainment it provided. Making tunnels in the loft with the haybales—far more exciting than it may sound! Helping Dad milk by recording the milk weights of each jar before they emptied. Playing army with my older brother and the other boys (they only ever let me be a medic, but that satisfied me). Camping. Camping. Camping. Every single thing about Easter and Christmas at Mamaw's and Papaw's. Those two annual events require a book just themselves. The creek and all the hours spent there either alone or scheming with my siblings and cousins. "Swimming" in the grain bins. Climbing the silos. Playing hide-and-seek all over the farm...you had to be committed for that! It being my turn to walk down to the milking parlor alone at night for milk in the morning—it was scary then, but it's a cute memory now. Forcing the younger children to be my students. Climbing out on the tin roof at night and feeling so (happily) disconnected from everything except for something bigger than us all. Filming home videos while Dad milked and we were unsupervised (during his single years). My first silly kiss on the cheek from a boy I liked and acting completely disgusted but feeling on the inside as if I were suddenly twenty—he died two weeks ago. ****** Elementary School—next to my childhood home, it's home. The huge rocks we played on that we thought were former sea turtles. Singing to the cows. The dogs, kittens, and a host of other less traditional animals that made childhood more meaningful and memorable. Dad teaching me how to sew—when I was little I thought he could do nearly anything...now I know he can. I'm not Daddy's Little Girl (and I'm not Mommy's Little Girl), but I know special when I see it...though it sometimes take me a while. Our much anticipated "big vacation"...which took us a couple miles up the road to a motel with a pool for a night. Could have told us we were in Florida...we'd have been just as excited. Picnics. Mamaw making homemade ice cream. Picking berries with Mamaw and her without notice taking off her shirt and cooling herself in the creek—I about died! Bathtime.

That's just stream of consciousness...I am no doubt leaving greater memories out. I may have to come back to this.

 

Most vivid memories from childhood? (Warning: Incoming stream of consciousness post)

My grandfather and step-grandmother taking me, my brother, and my cousin to plays, musicals, and symphony orchestras.

Going to my grandmothers first house for the holidays (before my great-grandfather died and she and my step-grandfather wasted all of his money on frivolous purchases and have been hundreds of thousands in debt since, going from house-to-house every few years)

Going to my grandfather's/step-grandmother's house to sleepover with my brother and cousin. We'd usually watch some movie with them and order pizza. My grandfather would slice the pizza slices in half, so there would be 16 slices. He said it made the pizza tastier when it was cut thinner. Before we'd go to bed, we'd plan on staying up till like midnight or something and then talk after our grandparents went to sleep. But since we were 7-10 (we had many sleepovers there), we could never stay up that late

October 1996, I do not remember the date. It is 9 PM. My dad has just gotten home from a business trip (I stayed up late to surprise him when he came up to kiss my brother and I goodnight, as he did every time he got home from a 4-5 day business trip). I went to the top of the stairs when I heard him walking through the kitchen, towards the dining room. When he was in the dining room getting near the stairs, I thought I said hello, but I didn't. My dad runs up the stairs, picks me up, places me on my side on the floor of the kitchen, he yells my mother's name, she runs in and asks him what is wrong, she stops asking mid-sentence, sees me on the floor, and jumps for the phone to call 911. Memory gap. I am sitting on the toilet (using it as a seat) and a police officer is there along with my parents. He asks me questions, how old am i, what is my name, and how many fingers he was holding up (4, 2, and 5). I thought I answered it perfectly. Apparently I could not answer at all because my tongue was spasming. I hear the noise of an ambulance. I lose consciousness. That is my first memory.

Being beat up almost daily from 1995-2000 (by people who said they were my friends), culminating in my staying inside almost constantly (although not to the point of agoraphobia, just severe social anxiety and generalized anxiety in addition to social phobia). One is now training to be a police officer and the other is a football player for Notre Dame.

 

My Bio mom died in my birth, Dad remarried when I was 3, besides getting a new mommy I got a grandma too (all of my grandparents died before I was born). I loved to go to grandma's place she lived in Westwood CA. near UCLA her apartment was on a hill and you could see all the way to Santa Monica (about 5 miles) you could watch thunder storms out at sea. She would tell me stories about the farm where my Mom grew up.

 

Sure thing Speechy!

 

I'm using a pretty big font, (remember, mom is 81) but I'm up to page 11. Those are just my contributions; everyone else is getting their stuff together when they find the time.

I'm having such fun with this. And it will be quite a keepsake for my own kids.

 

I just printed up mom's book.

So far, with clipart, it's 29 pages. I went to Staples this morning and got each of the moms a binder... this is really shaping up nicely!!!

 

My most vivid memory is probably Sunday mornings with my dad. When I was very, very young (I'm surprised I remember this- starting at age 2), my dad used to get up early with me and he was the one responsible for getting me ready for church. My mom stayed at home with me, and although of course I saw my dad every night, he came home at 6 so I didn't get to spend as much time with him. We had this little Sunday morning routine that I remember very clearly. First, I took a bath and we would play with my little floating Noah's Ark toys in the bathtub (during the week, I didn't really get to have toys in the tub). Then he would make me cinnamon toast for breakfast and I would sit on his lap and eat it. While he was blow drying my hair he used to turn the radio up really loud and we would sing along with it- and then of course mom would come in and start telling him he was doing my hair wrong, haha. That's probably the earliest thing I can remember.

 

Mom's book is up to 38 pages. My mother in law is at 35 at the moment.

I'm really enjoying this!

 

Wait, Julia and I just had a brainstorm!!!!

One of these days (not tonight; it's past 10 pm) we're going to start a similar book for our family. Lots of little "remember when" stories.

When the kids were little, I kept a piece of paper on the fridge each week. Each day I tried to jot down a little something that each of them said or did, just as a keepsake.

I think it's time to type them into a document. Maybe I'll start it over Christmas break.

 

This idea may interest you Alice. When my kids were little, I started a set of 365 index cards that we called the Family Almanac. I would add things like family vacations and concerts and important dates like baptisms, etc. Each night when we sat down to dinner, I'd share the family history from that date. We had some great conversations sharing funny stories from vacations and other memories.
I know that's not what you are talking about but it was such fun project for us that I had to share. Your project sounds great!