Earliest Memory

For many years as a young girl, I had a memory of climbing up onto a very high bed, using a small step that sat beside it. I remembered being on the bed with my Mom, brother and sister and then I remember getting down and looking out the window. Everything had a slight green tint to it. That's a funny memory and I figured it must just be some kind of a dream I had.

When I was about 16 years old, we were sitting around in the living room talking about memories. There were all the usual stories that made us laugh and brought us closer together. Then someone talked about the hurricane...

I had to be 2 or 3 years old at the most. We were living in Bermuda. The house was an old rock home build on the shore. We had our own boat dock. My father was stationed there in the Air Force.

While living there a terrible hurricane hit the island. Mom gathered us all into her bedroom and we crawled up onto her high bed using the little steps beside it. As we sat there trying to stay calm, we heard an airplane fly over our home. Mom commented that she "wondered who that crazy person was out flying in this kind of weather." Later, we found out it was our Dad. He was a weatherman and his job was to fly in the eye of the hurricane to see the direction it was going. He flew right over our house, which means the eye of the hurricane also went right over our house. It took off the roof, but the rest of the solid rock house stood firm. When the storm passed we all looked out the window and the air was a eerie green color.

They say that when you are dramatically affected by an event, you remember it in detail. I wonder how frightened that small child was. I wonder what went through her mind. I wonder if that is one of the reason that until she married Tarzan she never felt completely safe.

Our lives are filled with memories that affect our entire lives. Share your lifetime memories with me.