Memories

In "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years," Don often mentions his friend Bob, who writes down all of his memories.  I'm not going to do that, but I think it's important to make memories and to revisit them every once in a while.

My first memory is of my Grandma taking away my pacifier.  My parents didn't have the heart to do it, and I was almost 4, so Grandma had to take matters into her own hands.  She pulled it right out of my mouth and put in on a high shelf in a cabinet so I could see it but not reach it.  I was devastated.  I was furious.  My almost-4-years-old world was shattered.

I remember when Grandma died...she was the only grandparent I ever knew.  That was a whole different kind of devastation and world-shattering.  

I remember my first boyfriend and my first kiss: Rick Tafoya. We were kindergarten lovers.  He kissed me on the cheek in my garage. In front of my dad.

I remember summers in New Hampshire--sneaking over to the private beach with my cousins; duck itch; hiding behind a tree with my cousin Kristi while my dad got a talking-to from a cop for shooting off 4th of July fireworks; borrowing Kristi's rollerblades (at least 4 sizes too small) and subsequently eating gravel, coming back to the house and yelling "it smarts!" as my mom applied hydrogen peroxide to my wounds because I had heard that phrase somewhere and thought it's what all the cool kids were saying when they were in pain.

I remember staple wars with my elementary school friends every time our teacher would turn around. 

I remember my parents telling me we were moving to TEXAS instead of New Hampshire...that was a bad day.  Turned out ok though =)

I remember skipping the Rangers game at our July 4th family reunion one year so we could keep playing spoons and eating Lorna's famous chocolate chip cookies.  We made our own fireworks show by jumping up from our seats and yelling "BLUE!" "RED!" "SPARKLES!" etc.

I remember my first all-nighter in high school with my best friend, Kim, making [really dumb] shirts that said "sorry if our hotness burns u." And I think the sleeves had dolphins on them.

I remember JAJ days.

I remember sitting on my floor praying REALLY hard for God to "send me a sign" about whether I should go to CSU or Mizzou.  I remember Mom walking in at exactly that moment holding a stuffed CSU ram.  

I remember having yell practice with 80 Aggies on the roof of the Galeries Lafayette in Paris.

Those are just a few of so many moments that were made memorable for one reason or another.  Mostly because of the people involved.  So a big thanks to all of you crazy/fun/awesome/inspirational/loving people who have made memories with me through the years.