Sunday, February 20, 2011

I Remember

I attended a Family Writing Night recently at a local school. Our assignment was to write an "I Remember" poem. Here is mine.

                                                        I Remember
I remember the pine trees that separated the field from the road, the duck pond where we would ice skate in the winter, catch frogs in the spring, and fish during the summer. I remember the long walks between my house and my best friend’s house. Sometime we would ride our bikes, if a tire wasn’t flat.

I remember my best friend, Debbie, who would be my maid of honor thirteen years later. I remember the sad day that her mother died from breast cancer, when they did not have the treatments we have today. I remember Daddy Joe who would take the neighborhood kids fishing in his old jalopy.

I remember playing hopscotch after drawing the squares in the dirt. We each would find a special rock to throw when it was our turn. There were the many games of hide and seek, under the porch, behind tall trees, and in the neighbor’s garden. Playing jump-rope, especially double-dutch was lots of fun.

I remember fried chicken for dinner after church every Sunday. It would be piled high on my grandmother’s large flowered platter. There was always a fresh apple or blueberry pie to go along with the fried chicken. Sometimes there would be oatmeal for breakfast, full of lumps. It was the long cooking kind, not the instant varieties we can buy now. I remember eating Wheaties as a change up from the oatmeal. It was called the “Breakfast of Champions”. There was always a sports figure on the front of the box. I remember pouring whole milk, not 2% into the cereal bowl.

                                                      I Remember


What do you remember as a child?

9 comments:

  1. Reminiscing...I remember the graveyards. Bellefontaine and Calvary Cemeteries were across the street, and I was the keeper of the one at the back of the property where my brother, neighbor kids and I buried dead animals, feral kittens, birds, frogs, insects. We had processionals and "funerals", made headstones and tallied the count, thirty-six occupants when we moved away. Now what triggered that!

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  2. I love the variation of "I am from" or "I am." Just the different words "I remember" triggers different memories.

    I think I am going to write one of my own, sometime today, and post it on my blog. Thanks for sharing a part of yourself. I learned a little more about Barb through your piece. (And I will be glad to put together the basket for the writing conference...Did you have a theme in mind so people can contribute items? I was thinking about a chocolate basket...)

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  3. Becky, isn't it amazing what comes out when we have a "trigger"? Keeper of the cemetery-wow, those creatures were honored by you and the gang. Thanks for sharing.


    Sioux, I can't wait to learn more about you:) Thank you for volunteering to do the basket. I was going to let the volunteer pick a theme. Chocolate sounds like a winner. We can have a blurb sent out asking for contributions. I have a basket if you need one.

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  4. That is true - certain questions trigger different answers - I loved your walk down memory lane - sorry for your girlfriends mother. Love, sandie

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  5. Hey...I live in Bellefontaine Neighbors.

    I had a wonderful childhood...I could play outside and not worry about being snatched up. My Mom did not work, I came home from school and we had a snack together and talked about my day. Went outside to play, I never see children playing outside. During the summer we could play outside in front of our homes until 9pm while a parent would peek outside to make certain we were all okay. Life was good back then. Had best friends that I still have to this day. No computers, no smart phones, life less complicated. Memories...all good! Thanks Barb....I missed you! ♥ Carol

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  6. What a fascinating trigger.
    This isn't a poem, but here's what I remember: hopscotch, double-dutch, Red Rover, and calling first-on-streetlights to determine who got to call which game we'd play on summer evenings.

    I remember catching lightning bugs in the summer, sledding on cardboard boxes in O'Fallon Park in the winter, and eating pancakes as a special dinner on Friday nights rather than our usual fish sticks, salmon patties, meatless spaghetti, or grilled cheese.

    I remember the night my mom went to the hospital to have my baby sister and the day our new sister Bridget came home then got pneumonia and had to go back to the hospital again.

    Donna

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  7. Great post, Barb! It's fun to read about others' memories. Mine are similar to Donna's! Except I don't have any baby brothers or sisters! I'M the baby!!

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  8. Strangest things I remember! Just the past couple of days, I remembered digging dandelions with a butcher knife. My brother and I were sent out to dig them out BY THE ROOTS and put them in a brown paper bag. My father then emptied the bag and paid us a PENNY for every one with roots on them! We thought that was a BIG deal!

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