Thursday, April 2, 2009

Stories I don't remember

There are two stories about me for which I have no original recollection. These were told to guests, and I remember them on that basis.

One: In this I was an infant, and on this particular day, the story goes, I was sitting in a highchair in the kitchen. My eldest sister Frances came into the kitchen on her way to the pantry, and noted that I was eating an apple. On her way out, she looked at me and saw that my face was greasy. A greasy apple? I was eating a cube of butter.

Two: I must have been a bit older because I was talking. Seems my Uncle Joe and Aunt Jeanette had come to visit. The story says I was sitting on my aunt's lap. I do remember not particularly liking her because she was homely as a mud fence, and she said things that apparently made no sense to me. This last is demonstrated by the following exchange:
Aunt: "Would you like to come home with me?" (Oh, I was a sweet child, they say.)
Me: (Remember, I was small enough to sit on a lap)." Don't be absurd."

Now this story I sort of remember. And I can pin the date within a day or so. I think it was June 29, 1936. I say that because my nephew Jack was born on June 28, 1936. I was six years old.

"Donald, you're an uncle"
Me: "I can't be. I'm not old enough." To me an uncle was someone with a long beard. I wasn't even close to shaving, yet.

Humor time --

3 comments:

  1. Do you still have a taste for your butter straight up? Granted 6 is young for an uncle but when I was a kid we lived next to a family with thirteen kids. Some of the aunts and uncles were born AFTER their nieces and nephews! That's confusing.

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  2. Cute story. Cats have their own little personalities. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. My grandmother had a nephew two years older than she was. And my first two kids, when they were little, if you left a stick of butter on the table, you'd find fingersweeps across it--I remember trying to figure out why they liked it so much. After the first two, I stopped leaving it out where they could push a chair to.

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