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Mom and I had a nice conversation yesterday. We were sharing our earliest memories. She has some memories even from being a baby! I'm amazed at her recall.
One of my earliest memories was of stopping to get doughnuts at a shop in Warsaw, IN. We lived on Hepler Drive at the time, which was the early 1980's, and the doughnut shop was nearby on a triangular lot where two roads intersected. We ate them in the back seat of the car on our way to church one morning, and so began my lifelong love of sour cream doughnuts. They're still at the tippy-top of my list of favorite doughnuts.
Mom asked what my favorite memory was of childhood. I recalled lots of things: Dad reading to us at night, picking cherries off the trees in our yard, planting the garden, drinking Dad's coffee after he left for work (I just wanted to know how it tasted!), Mom's kolachkes, riding on the back of Mom's bike with her, the goats and chickens we had, spending a whole week with Grandma and Grandpa Walton when I was seven, Grandma's red-hot popcorn. I could go on for days.
It is difficult to choose one favorite memory, though. The overarching feeling from childhood is of being loved, wanted, and secure.
I have no idea what all my children will remember from childhood. Kris and I are not always their favorite people--we must be doing something right. But I hope with all my heart they never doubt being loved, wanted, and secure.
P.S. I didn't write yesterday. Not an excuse, just an admission of failure so you know I know, and I'm not just ignoring it.