March Blog Challenge Day 4

March Blog Challenge

Day 4: your favorite childhood memory

March 4, 2013

 

This was actually a hard one for me to pin-point.  I have many fond memories of my childhood.  Like I mentioned in yesterday’s challenge, I have been very blessed to have grown up with the family that I have.  The challenge states memory not memories so I don’t think it would be fair if I did another “Top 10” or anything other than a singularly response.  However, I am all about breaking through conformity.   

Top 10 Favorite Childhood Memories

In order to give this top list a proper perspective, I think I should mention that most of my family (on my mother’s side) lived on the same street. Many of my favorite memories include those that I grew-up closest with.

10.) Roof Volley: My cousin Josh and I were the closest in age and he lived across the street from me. During the time when we weren’t in school and the weather cooperated, we would grab a volley ball (or any bouncy ball) and head up to my grandparent’s; whom lived next door to my parent’s. We would throw the ball up onto the roof and volley the ball.  Eventually, when my parents bought a real volley ball net, we migrated toward that (especially since our Poppop started to yell at us for using his roof!)

9.) Building Forts: We had pine trees lining the right side of my parent’s property.  There were a few that were lined in the back and faced a farmer’s field.  We would cut down some of the lower branches on the back side and it created a nice tuck-a-way fort.

8.) Cloud Gazing: Behind my parent’s house, on the edge of their property where it connected with a farming field, there was this slight dip.  It was perfectly comfortable to lay on your back looking up into the roaming blue abyss.  Cloud gazing consists of trying to associate what the cloud resembles.  I use to incorporate this when I did art projects with the student’s I use to work with. We would take a blue sheet of construction paper, and then put some white paint in the middle, or wherever they wanted to on the paper (not too much paint).  Then fold the paper in half and then we would all discuss what we thought the shape looked like.

7.) Road Trips: We didn’t go on many family vacations, but when we did it was memorable.  We use to play car games, like spotting license plates, and whoever found the furthest state won the game.  One of my most favorite memories was once year (I don’t remember where we were going) but we were all in the car and my sister and I started making funny faces at cars driving by. They expressions would make us laugh, and then we would show what face we made, and then we roared with laughter.  That is one of my cherished memories I hold dear.

6.) Warm Evenings: In the spring and early summer, another one of my favorite past times involved the family gathering on my grandparent’s porch.  We would play games and when we were resting we enjoyed each other’s company. Yet another, very near and dear cherished memories that I hope I carry with me always.

5.) Snow Days! Most children (and school staff) love a good snow day! It takes you away from the mundane and it gives you that needed day to play free.  Full of cold goodness, hot chocolate, and snow ball fights.  The memory I hold dear involves my cousins and I outback of my parent’s house, it had snowed so much that we were able to actually dig tunnels in the snow and crawl through them.  It was exhausting, but that’s not what I remember; I remember having my cousins there and all of us playing, cooperating, and having a blast.

4.) Family Visits: I have memories of anticipating out of state relatives visiting.  I didn’t get to see them like I did the rest of my family.  My parents have a bay window in the front of their house.  The nights I knew they were going to arrive, I would wait and watch every car driving by, waiting to catch the blinking lights signaling that they were here, and getting ready to pull into the driveway.

3.) Thanksiging: For the holiday dinner my mom’s side of the family along with some friends of the family, would all gather across the street at my uncle’s home.  We had the traditional turkey, grown up’s table, and the kiddie table.  The entire – rag’tag’band of cousin’s sitting at one table, laughing, and having a good time together – that’s the love I have been raised with, Godly love.

2.) Easter: My favorite Easter memory was when we would wake up Easter morning and went to see our baskets, anticipating the gifts and candy.  Instead, we found a note – of where our basket could be found.  We would go to the next spot and find another note, this continued for a while, and then finally we found our baskets.  However, I couldn’t tell you what was in the baskets.  What I remember the most were the smiles, joking around, and the fun we had running around the house going from clue to clue.

1.) Christmas: Not that I want my most cherished memories to be of material possessions.  Yet, Christmas morning was always a very special day. When you started to blink awake, immediately it slams into you what the significant is.  I would go and wake up my parents who would plead for more time having stayed up late the night before perfecting the magical scene.  The music playing in the background flashes from the numerous pictures, and a lot of laughter captured.  The memory I have was the Christmas when my parent’s displayed our gifts on the white shelves (assembled) that they had gotten us.  My shelves were from top to bottom covered in Barbie dolls, clothes, and more. 

After writing this, it made me realize a few things.  One, that I truly love my family and will always love and cherish each and every one of them.  Two, how blessed I am to have these great memories with my parent’s and my sister. Three, how much nature was incorporated with my childhood – it is something that I think is missing in a lot of adolescence’s lives today.

Until next time or the next… dream

~ K.E.Nowinsky

www.goingoffdreams.com
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