Earliest Memories

A short while ago we were having brunch with our neighbours, and the conversation turned to memories…our earliest memories to be precise. As we went around the table sharing these reminisces, I wondered what it was about these particular events that stuck in our minds ahead of all the other things we would have been doing/experiencing at that time in our lives. I still haven’t come up with a plausable explanation.

For me, my earliest memory involved my mom’s mother, who died when I was 3. We were at a fish farm in Nova Scotia, and I remember standing at the edge of the fish ponds with her. That’s it…I don’t recall what we talked about or whether we saw fish (we must have) or what she looked like. But I certainly remember her presence there and I remember it was a day that gave me a good feeling.

Jamie’s earliest memory is me playing a piece on the piano called “Fox Dance”. It was rhythmic and lively and as a toddler, he asked to hear it almost daily, dancing around the room as I played it. And again I ask myself, “Why that memory?”