Monday, October 06, 2008

32 Years, 32 Memories.... 1-4

From early on in life:

1. Go get 'em Tigger - No idea how old I was, but I had this white tank top shirt that had a Tigger print on it. I must not have been familiar with the Winnie the Pooh tales because I was convinced that Tigger was a fierce tiger that could rip people to shreds. I was also convinced that, in times of peril, I could call on the Tiggers from my tank top shirt, and they would rip my adversary to shreds. I'm not sure when I finally realized this wasn't the case, but I'm sure it came after one of many times Tigger failed to assist me in the torment of two older brothers.

2. I could be in Brazil - I was five years old, and my family went to Brazil to see my Uncle Jim and his family who were misionaries there. We arrived in teh Rio de Janero airport. As we were preparing to load up the van with our luggage, nobody could find my cousin Michelle. Everyone spread out to find her. My mom must have thought I went with my dad, and my dad thought vice versa, and I ventured off on my own to find my cousin. I don't really remember the details, but I do remember going out of the airport to sit on a curb, and my uncle Jim driving up in a van and having me get in. Had he not seen me, maybe my name would now be Paulo and I'd be hanging out at Ipanema Beach!

3. Front Yard Baseball - My brothers and I turned our front yard into a wiffle ball diamond. We had an intricate set of rules set up that included pitchers hands, ghost runners, running stats, etc. I don't even want to guess how many hours we spent in the front yard playing. One of my fondest childhood memories.

4. A Phone Call - Heath was my cousin. He was the same age as me. I was 4 years old (I'm thinking). On a Saturday, he had been outside working at my grandpa's and went inside by the fire to warm up. Somehow, he fell into the fire place. He ran through the house before my grandpa was able to get to him. They airlifted him to Fort Wayne. On Sunday morning, we were getting ready for church and our phone rang. My mom answered, talked for 15 seconds, and hung up. She came over and hugged me and cried. She told me Heath went to be with Jesus.
My mom dropped me off in Sunday School that day. I felt bad for her because everyone was staring at her as she cried. I looked at my teachers and said, "She's sad because Heath died." My teachers started crying as well. I think part of it was the fact that I had no comprehension of what had happened.

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