Memories

A few weeks ago a parishioner asked me to lead a prayer at the presentation of her third published book.  I was unaware she had published books before, I gladly agreed to lead the prayer.  I led the brief prayer earlier this week at a simple ceremony held at a local bookstore where representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and the mayor were present.

That morning I learned that her first book were her memoirs, the second a collection of poems and the third and most recent a children’s book.  As I waited for the ceremony to begin, I began to skim through her memoirs.  So many memories, so many moments that together mold and shape who one is at the present moment.  As I drove away from the bookstore, I asked myself, “what are my own earliest memories?”

For the last two days I’ve been working on answering that question.  Here are some of my earliest memories.

My earliest memory without a doubt is a time my mother and I were leaving the grocery store.  This particular store had a long ramp one had to walk to reach the street level below.  My mother dropped the grocery bag full of bread and the rolls literally rolled down the ramp.  I ran immediately behind the rolls to pick them up.

I remember my brother talking about Halley’s comet.  My parents were gone on vacation and we were home (probably with my aunt).  I don’t remember seeing the comet, but I remember looking out my window one night in awe at the fact that something like a comet could exist.  This morning I searched the exact date Halley’s comet passed by the Earth, it was February 9th, 1986, I was one month shy from turning four years old.

I remember a specific moment from my first airplane flight, I was four years old.  The whole family flew from Lima to Tarapoto, a city in Peru’s rainforest.  The moment I recall is the shock I received when I looked out the window and saw the clouds below us.  I don’t remember saying this, but my mom claims I said in amazement, “Mom! the clouds fell down!”

Early memories seem to be fragile and vague.  They are distant, making themselves difficult to capture and quick to forget again.  What are your earliest memories?