Made of This

Today ended a three-part series done by Nick Coleman, former Arts Editor for the UK newspaper, The Independent, written for The Economist's blog, More Intelligent Life (Read Part I, Part II, and Part III.) Our earliest memory shapes who we are today was basically the premise of the interviews.

So I reflected a bit on my own earliest memories and came up with a few...

My first dream was static. It was a closeup of a ladybug. While I don't remember how many dots it had, I remember its large size and unmoving nature. I was immersed in observation.

I remember this candy store on St. Laurent called LUX. You entered through a revolving door. It was an upscale and classy treat.

As a kid me, my brother and the two neighbours next door would set up a lemonade stand on the weekends when it was hot. One rainy day, for some reason, I was committed to selling lemonade. And I set up the stand and everything. Of course, there was no business for the committed child under the umbrella.

One afternoon, I was over at the neighbour's house in their backyard. I don't know why but I decided to eat grass. My mother scolded me severely (I must have had grass stains on my pants). I made up some excuse but, really, I was pretending to be a cow.

Arrived on Nantucket, all four of us in the family got in a car and drove to find our house for our vacation. I remember getting lost - as per usual - when we drove to our new home. It was a trademark of our vacations, getting lost on the first day.

As a child I read a lot and read lots of books about the Titanic and the Holocaust. I remember cherishing an old copy of Walter Lord's A Night to Remember.

In kindergarten, at one lunchtime, I threw out my sandwich because I was done. Somehow I was discovered and told not to be wasteful and finish my sandwich.

I remember watching Peter Pan but eating dinner simultaneously. It was a treat to eat in the TV room - since we were always forbidden to eat upstairs.

In what must have been grade 2, I was chosen as a child gifted in math and spent time playing fun logic games in this strange attic-like room located up a flight of stairs.


I'm not really sure which of these memories is the earliest, but they are all moments that, if I think just for a bit, float up to the surface.