Your Fondest Childhood Memory

[palavore]

I won't pry into the whole of your soul--like Ganbare. But I do enjoy an innocent, sentimental, or funny story. Real stories especially--or a real as we can remember them. Even better are the memories that we mull over and dissect countless times: childhood memories.

Please share with us your fondest childhood memory.

(If your story is a startling surprise or cliffhanger, don't be shy about letting guess what happens next.)

[milkman's baby]

When I was in the 1st grade, we were making art projects and I got into a fight with this boy over a piece of tape. I had a loose tooth at the time, and he hit me in the mouth really hard. The tooth came out and I accidentally swallowed it. I think I managed to choke him for several seconds and scratch him really hard before the teacher came over and broke it up.

Couple years later, that guy ended up getting moved to the BD classroom (Behavior Disorder - did you guys have those at your school?). It was a class for the kids who were constantly misbehaving and couldn't be controlled - not the same as the special ed class. I actually wanted to be in that class because if you were a BD kid and you behaved for a week, you got a free McDonald's happy meal. Yeah, that kid stayed in my mind. Matthew, if you're out there, I'd like to buy you a beer.

[bulaklak]

^Yah my elementary school had something similar to a BD classroom. My sister was placed there for a year. She's autistic and needed constant supervision otherwise she would bang her head against the wall and eat paint chips. Eventually the school district agreed to help pay and bus her to a special school. She's doing much better now.

My fondest childhood memory... when I was in 4th grade I had a crush on a Japanese boy in my class and since we didn't have facebook back then, I would follow him around during recess. Well one day he got annoyed and pushed me into a brick wall. The gash above my eye was deep enough that I needed two stitches but instead of bringing me to the hospital, my dad took a sterile needle and sewed it up. The little boy came over later to apologize and gave me a box of origami.

[palavore]

^^

Both fond of violence?

[milkman's baby]

Physical fighting is considered childish and it is unacceptable in adult life amongst the middle class and up. So I can only think back to my childhood as the "good ole days" when it was okay to fight. Children often acceptably represent what primitive adults did, so we can only look at children with admiration.

[rob]

Countless happy memories. I'm inundated just trying to recall them.

There are the things that made me ecstatic back then (new baseball bat, hide and seek on the farm, street hockey) and there are the things I look back on now and smile, tho it wasn't anything to smile over back then, most relating to not having $$$ and trying to scrape by. I remember when I was 10 delivering spring rolls to all the local bars and strip clubs (my mom was trying to make $$ when my dad lost his job). I remember sitting with all the dancers and playing cards. They treated me like their own kid, a little prince, and I miss them a ton. I also miss the thrill of eating out and getting to order a drink (usu just on my birthday). It was such a treat and I remember pretty much every drink I ordered, savoured and cherished before I was 15yrs old

Now of course I'm a spoiled jack-a$s and drink thousand dollar wines. It don't taste as good

[Pocky Monster]

^ That's really sweet, Rob. Most "bar ladies" I know have a surprisingly warm open nature about them. I don't mean that in a silly way either.. there's just no other way I can think to explain it at the moment. **minutes later** For some reason the band or (fittingly) pride of lionesses from the Lion King comes to mind. And for some reason I had to come back and modify this post just to announce that. haha

I remember losing everything when my father invested in a company whose stock unexpectedly went under. The 7 of us ended up moving into a 2 bed apartment in Union City. I still remember my parents bartering w/ Mr.Chen for rent. He was a great man. For a while there life became simple. I loved that apartment.

Wow, it's raining hard right now. A memory that comes to mind is being soothed to sleep by the drumming sound on our sheet metal roof in Thailand. In the morning we'd rush to play in the muddy rain water if there was any left (and there usually was since we lived by one of the only concrete roads in the village). But the best place to play after a storm was (my favorite) the water buffalo's pool. That thing was nasty. One day while my cousins were fishing for beta in the shallow end I was urging my little sister to the other side. I still remember enjoying the gooshy feeling between my toes as we trudged deeper. Then I turned around when I heard these odd gurgling noises. My sister was splashing around frantically and for some reason I didn't notice the urgency and could only wonder at how much of that disgusting brown-green water she was gulping down. Mouth fulls. Suddenly my feet couldn't feel the ground anymore. Desperately, I did everything I could to keep my face up out of the water. I didn't know what drowning was.. I only remember not wanting any of that yucky in my nose! It seemed ages until we were scooped up by my uncle's strong arms. He carried us to the well while yelling at my eldest cousin. I wondered what everyone was so upset about and why was my Mae was crying? Sister and I started to giggle and speak to eachother in English about the funny faces we had made in the pool. Someone asked what we were saying since no one else could understand. Then Mae tugged a bucket of clean water out of the well. Ugh. Not a bath!
And that's all my 6 year old mind decided to remember.

Okay, that wouldn't be the fondest memory but it stands as the most vivid in my mind at this very moment. ;D

[rob]

Jan 20, 2010 8:08:57 GMT -5 Pocky Monster said:

^ Most "bar ladies" I know have a surprisingly warm open nature about them.

And the 'pride of lionesses' is totally right. There's a certain amount of charisma, kindness and sorority among dancers. I was lucky to have known them.

Jan 20, 2010 8:08:57 GMT -5 Pocky Monster said:

I remember losing everything when my father invested in a company whose stock unexpectedly went under. The 7 of us ended up moving into a 2 bed apartment in Union City. I still remember my parents bartering w/ Mr.Chen for rent. He was a great man. For a while there life became simple. I loved that apartment

[/b].[/quote]

Me too! Well similar. For a while, we were staying at the Sandman motel and i can't tell you how awkward it was when the manager was chasing us for payment and I'd be the one negotiating for a special monthly rate. If any of my classmates had found out (I attended a rather posh school), I'd have been completely ostracized. But looking back, same as you, life became simple and with a smaller "well" of needs/wants, it became easier to fill.

Love your story about Thailand too. Is there a way for Kenny to go back there and experience many of the things you did? I hope your remaining family there is still healthy and that you can still make trips back there.

[Ganbare!]

When you're a child, you find joy in even the smallest of things. I remember grinning uncontrollably because I had found a 2$ coin while playing in the snow during the 1998 Canadian ice storm. Later that day while looking for a convenience store to buy Twizzlers licorice, a 3 feet ice shard fell off a nearby roof missing me by mere inches.

Made me realize how my own life changed so much, everything was so simple back then, no frustration over identity, money nor relationships.

[palavore]

Sweetfart, did you meet the Lord of the Flies during your childhood?

Rob, I remember the waitresses that I would play around with at the restaurant. Though, I wonder if they treated me that way because I was the boss's grandchild. Anywho, one of them gave me my first kiss. It was a peck on the lips and I was only 6 years old, but it felt like it counted. It's amazing to recall the total intimacy you had as a kid with complete strangers.

Guava, I remember a near drowning experience as a kid. I was out on the lake with my uncle when he suddenly pushed me overboard. My uncle was a long distance swimmer in his youth and took it upon himself to be my coach. He pulled the boat away and told me to swim to that island. I was 12 at the time. I knew the fear of drowning, alligators, and even the irrational fear of lochness monsters. He was probably using those fears to get me to push myself harder. When I got to the island I was furious and refused to get back on the boat. I stayed on that island tried to figure a way that I could actually live out my life there. It was on that day, however, that I realized that I hated swimming and that my uncle was a complete asshole.

Ganbare, yes. My fondest memories tend to be about small things over which I place a great deal of sentimental value. When I was in New York and was experiencing my first snow storm, I begged my mother to take me to the store with her. The snow was still falling heavily and I couldn't see anything in front of me--the white of it all was so blinding. The only direction I had was my mother's hand pulling me. The snow was piled high in some places. From my height they looked like mountains when their outlines could be made out. Then I remember falling, crashing, or collapsing into a great mountain of snow. My mother dug me out and laughed as she brushed me off. I remember it as one of the most intimate moments I had with my mother.

[furbob]

I remember one night mum bought Pizza Hut with stuffed crust and Scott carefully peeled the crust to collect the cheesy parts then after his hard work he went off for a second and I took all the cheesy parts and eated it. :B

[maow]

Fondest childhood memory, too many but it would have to be something to do with Gigantor!

[maow]

For the uninitiated, this is Gigantor then....

and now!

[Groink]

^

Holy Jesus H. Crapfest!

[maow]

^
$@%^@$!