Chapter 2 of Family Memories-happiest childhood memory

 

What is your happiest childhood memory?

 

Lorraine:  I remember our family going to Vancouver Park in Seattle.

John:  I remember going on a picnic to Marrowstone Island when Uncle John and Aunt Lilly were up visiting from Oregon.  We had to take the little ferry to get over to Indian Island where the ammunition depot is now. I was nine and played on the beach.

Marcella: My mother told me I couldn’t have a birthday party. I was angry about that and went to school and invited all these kids home after I directed them about what I wanted for my birthday. My mother had a migraine headache and I can still see her mixing up angel food cake from scratch.

Arlie: Receiving an AC Gilbert Erector set for Christmas.

Joyce: The freedom of riding my bike. The first time dad let me leave the dirt road by our house and venture onto the streets of Port Townsend. He was positive a car would hit me. I also remember the day my mother agreed to let me live with my dad when they divorced.  It was kind of sad but I was so relieved and happy.

Dale: Fried chicken and potato salad picnics at Shine Beach on the Hood Canal.

Janie: When I learned I was leaving my mother in Pennsylvania to live with my dad, sister, and brothers in Port Townsend.

Jimmy: Swinging in the trees and watching Tarzan movies. Also loved playing on the swamp with our rafts.

Sue S: Trips to the Oregon coast with mom and dad to find agates. We were all very competitive.  One time we went on Thanksgiving. It was a cold, wet, windy day and dad kept talking about the turkey dinner we were going to order when we finished looking for rocks. We cleaned up and looked everywhere for an open restaurant.

Lill: Drawing to music in the 2^nd grade. Getting my own bicycle on my 10^th birthday. Learning to sew in the 3^rd grade. My 6^th grade year.

Marlee: I had a safe and happy childhood but I don’t remember anything that stands out. Maybe mom reading to us in the living room. I loved Five Little Peppers series.

Cindy: Kissing dad goodnight and heading upstairs, and my mother coming in to tuck me in with clean sheets after playing all day.

Bill: Our life was so different. Living so far from relatives and dad being gone on the truck all the time was very difficult.  I suppose my happiest memories was sitting on my mom’s lap every night. I was a very sick child so when she held me, I felt safe, secure, and healthier.

Bonnie: I had a great time at the fair when we were in 4-H. We got to spend the whole week there and lived out of the camper.

Sue W: Raising and caring for our goats.

Mary: I remember playing with the neighborhood kids in Kirkland from dawn to dusk. We all hated Julie Potter. I remember setting up Olympics in the yard on San Juan Avenue in Port Townsend and teaching myself to ride a two-wheeler bike when we lived at 424 F Street.  Mom bringing cupcakes to my kindergarten class with clowns stuck in the top. Christmas when I was ten. I didn’t believe in Santa and I desperately wanted a chemistry set. I remember going to bed disappointed but guilty for not being thankful for the other presents I received. We woke up Christmas morning and each of us four kids received one more “large” present from Santa under the tree. I got my chemistry set.

Joe: I remember fishing with mom at Point Wilson. She always wore a big black coat with a furry hood. We used the candlefish-looking lures and usually only caught flounder. We put them in a blue square bucket and then we’d go somewhere to get something to eat.

Tiffany: I was five years old and sick in bed. My mom asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner and she would fix anything I picked.  I told her taco salad (she made the best). Afterwards she tucked me in her and dad’s bed and came in with a tray with a flower on it. I remember that conversation that day like it was yesterday. She told me that no matter what she would always love me and be there for me and I said I would do the same. Looking back, I can only guess that mom and dad had already decided to separate and that was mom’s way of letting me known it wasn’t my fault.