Papa Stories: 1. First Memories

Grandparents love sayings. Do you ever think, “Where do these sayings come from?” Some of mine are: It’s always right to do right; The best thing about doing right is you don’t have to like doing it; A thing can’t be stupid, but a person who calls it stupid can be; and, It’s ok to feel tired, do it anyway.

Other sayings I liked to use with my children (your parents), were “I am funned out” or “I am peopled out,” particularity at the end of a family vacation, or a week at camp. These sayings come from the combination of our unique experiences and our special personalities that God has given each of us. We are always creating memories which become our “growing up stories.” Do you have a growing up story from when you were younger?
“Sayings” are just short cuts for those stories, and grown-ups are fond of repeating them as they get older. I have many stories and memories that make me who I am as a grandfather and I am excited to share them with my grandkids!

Actually my first memories are not mine, but stories that I have had told to me many times by my parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents. I was born at Scotts Air Force base [1] in Belleville, Illinois and according to my parents I cost them one roll of dimes, one roll of nickels and four rolls of pennies [2]. My aunts and uncles still remind me that some of my first words were, “Yes sir, Sarge.” At that time my dad was in the Army Air Force [3]. Once dad built a model plane for me and I got super excited. As I waddled towards it, I stumbled and it was smashed beyond repair. I was told I didn’t walk until I was 18 months old and even then I would “slip over a cigarette paper [4]” as a toddler. My mom said I liked to sit in the middle of the floor and look around. I had no interest in taking those first steps. When did you learn to walk?

My first personal memory is about a home we lived in on a military base. I remember a room and a screen door that I wanted to go through to reach a court yard that was surrounded with other homes and had a wide drainage ditch running through it. I also remember my mom and dad talking and my dad was standing in his military uniform [5]. But to be honest I am never sure if it is a real memory or a created memory. Maybe it has been constructed from other people’s stories that I overheard. That is the problem with memories; they can seem so real but not always accurate. When I tell my stories, just remember they are my memories as I remember them and I think that they are true memories. Do you have a memory from when you were very young? Do you remember some saying your parents are always telling you? Have you ever asked them the story behind the saying?

___________
[1] Scotts AFB is located about 25 miles east of St Louis, Missouri along I-64
[2] There are 50 coins in a roll of dimes; 40 coins in a roll of nickels and 50 coins in a roll of pennies; can you solve this math problem? How much did my birth cost my parents?
[3] We would move a lot because ten months after I was born my brother was born in Jacksonville, FL, and less than eleven months later my sister was born in New York.
[4] My folks rolled their own cigarettes using a special rolling machine and “Bugler” tobacco; cigarette paper is a very thin piece of paper about thickness of a tissue paper and is about 2” wide by about 3” long. Growing up I rolled lots of cigarettes.
[5] The only picture I have of dad in the military is a “unit picture” from 1948 that is in very bad condition. He was a volunteer chaplain’s assistant while he was briefly stationed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base at Cheyenne, Wyoming.