What do you remember most of your childhood?
What is your fondest memory?
Of Beirut...
Walking on the hills in Beirut with Bapak and Ibu, and finding a fossil! Yes, my very first fossil...at the age of 2 years old.
Sitting in front of my pre-school, holding hands with my first boyfriend, while eating a popsicle. Walking home from the market with Bapak and Ibu, holding Bapak's finger in my left hand, and a popsicle in my right, wearing diapers (yes...I distinctly remember the feeling of wearing diapers while waddling down the road).
Leander and Mr. Bixbie - the first pets I remember from my childhood. Mr. Bixbie lived on the porch in a box, a rabbit someone gave to us. His tail had been bitten off by Leander. Leander the cat loved to sit on the sill of the bathtub while I took a bubble bath.
My first experience of death was when Leander fell from the balcony of our apartment, and I can still see Ibu gently holding him on her lap while sitting on the bed, looking sad while speaking softly too him. I didn't fully understand what was happening, but after that all we had was Mr. Bixbie.
Madison, Wisconsin...
Riding in the back of Ibu's bicycle in Madison, my feet in the two baskets in the back, the wind blowing on my face... Riding in the front of Bapak's bicycle, with a handmade wooden seat and foot rest (yes, a footrest! So my little 4 year old legs wouldn't get tired). Going ice fishing. Getting a fishhook stuck in my head. Walking to the co-op at the age of five, proudly holding 100 pennies in my pocket, checking every minute if they were still there...savings from my babysitting jobs and finally paying for my own licorice. Red licorice! My favourite!
Oh, and I remember my most important job at 4 years old. Guarding Bapak's sandals. His worn, comfortable, leather sandals. In the summer, Bapak would play volleyball with our neighbours near our apartment. My job - very important and one I was most proud of - was to guard his sandals while he played, because he always played barefoot. I remember sitting right next to his sandals, on the grass, aware of the game going on, but never letting my little eyes of his favourite sandals...
And riding on Bapak's shoulders! Yes, ON TOP OF THE WORLD!!! Clinging on to his soft curly hair, bouncing up and down on his shoulders...being literally, on top of the world. I remember the feeling as if it were yesterday...and it still makes me smile.
What do you remember most?
1 comment:
Weew.. Mbak Budhsi! U could still remembered childhood memories when you were 2 years old?
Humh..my farthest childhood memory is when I was about three years old, as I met my mother after almost 6 months separated form her...The most complex feeling I've ever felt until now.
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