First Memories

There is an article in the paper today about first memories and how young were you at the time of your first memory. I know that I remember several things from when I was in kindergarten. I'm sure I remember a little bit from when I was a little bit younger. I clearly remember the house we lived in when I was around four or five years old. In fact my youngest sister was a baby then so I would have been about four when I first remember that house.

The house was on B Avenue, south of Tenth Street. It was a very old house and has been gone for years now. There was a vacant lot on the corner of Tenth and B. Next to the lot, on Tenth, there was a building that must have been a club house for Filipinos. I was a friendly child and probably made friends with some of the people there. Across the street on Tenth and C was, and still is, the Presbyterian Church. I made friends with Pastor Carson's youngest daughter Eloise. I went to their Sunday School for a while, but don't remember how long. We had been so young that Eloise did not remember knowing me when we met in later years.

On Orange Avenue, in back of our house, was the little hospital where my sisters were born. Twenty years later, in the sixties, there was a cute shop there named The Bayberry Tree. That store could have been there into the seventies. We enjoyed going into that store over the years when my children were young.

One story that Mom used to tell about my sister Betty was that she used to hold her breath and couldn't breathe. Mom would grab Betty and head out the back towards the hospital, then Betty would catch her breath when they got outside. I guess they didn't end up reaching the hospital before she was ok. We were in a good place if assistance had been needed.

Another time when Betty was about two years old, when we were visiting our grandparents and other relatives on F Avenue, Betty fell while drinking out of a small juice glass. She cut herself very bad on the bridge of her nose. I remember it bleeding a lot and all the adults being very concerned. Little Betty needed stitches for that injury. Those were probably the first stitches for any of us. I know we lived in the house on B then as I remember my aunt and uncle being with us there right after that happened.

I remember going to kindergarten in Coronado. My grandfather used to take me home after school. I rode on the back of his bike. One day when he went to pick me up I wasn't there. I had gone to a friend's at a house nearby. I can even remember the house on Seventh Street, near where the current police station is. I don't know how he found me but he did. I guess I was in big trouble since it stayed in my memory bank all these years. I'm remembering this seventy years later.

Paul remembers the first day of kindergarten. He says there were two teachers and he rejected both teachers. He does not remember why he did this. There is usually one child in a class who would much prefer to be home with Mommy. I guess he was the one. He also started school in Coronado. One of the teachers was the teacher I remember having, as did three of our children.

Donna didn't get to go to kindergarten as we were in Washington state with our mother's parents and there was no kindergarten there. I remember Donna's first day of first grade at the Meridian School, near the Canadian border, not far from our grandparent's farm in Laurel. I had done first grade twice at that school. I was in second grade when Donna started first grade. We had moved to Portland by the time Betty was in kindergarten. She started school there and finished her kindergarten year in Coronado.

One thing I remember about going to school in Portland, when I was in third grade, was that we were in a mixed race neighborhood. This was a change from our days on the farm with our grandparents. I also remember someone asking me what was on Betty's face. I never paid much attention to her birthmark otherwise. I knew enough to just say it was something she always had. Kids can be color blind, or blind to birthmarks. I always had a mole near my eye and remember a teacher being concerned about it when I was in first or second grade. Otherwise I wouldn't have thought about it. I eventually had it removed many years later. Betty never had the desire to have her birthmark removed. It was part of who she was.

Another memory from the house on B Avenue in Coronado also needs to be told. My parents were always hard workers and they did what they needed to do to support our family. Mom took in laundry and ironing and may have done some maid work. When we were very young Dad was a chauffeur, while his eyes were still good.

One day when Mom was at work and Dad was caring for the three of us girls he may have fallen asleep on the job. He may have had a few under his belt too. That happened sometimes. The three of us may have been on the noisy side and bothered the neighbors this one time. Our nearby neighbor was none too  pleased with the enthusiasm coming from the kids in the house next door, and Daddy could not be raised from his sleep. Our good neighbor called the police. When Mom came home from work the police were there and helping out nicely. But my Mom had plenty to say about that! She told them to mind their own business, that they did not need to be there. Life was not boring in our household.

In this day and age I'm sure things may not have ended as they did in those days so many years ago. I have a feeling that they did not choose to cross paths with that mother hen again. She could be very likeable and never knew a stranger, but not on that day.

Small world if you live in Coronado. Our neighbor was one of Paul's uncles. Now I remember that uncle always saying nice things about my mother. My dad was a good friend of another one of Paul's uncles. Even though I did not know Paul till we were teenagers our ties go back a long way. Dad and Paul's aunts, uncles and parents all grew up in Coronado from the time they were in school. Some of my uncles and one aunt would have gone to school in Coronado too.

I remember the first day going to school after arriving back in Coronado after the war. I was in third grade, Donna was in second grade and Betty was in kindergarten. This would have been after Christmas vacation, and after a long bus ride for our whole family from Portland to San Diego. After that first day of school I was to make sure my sisters got back home on Third and F ok. I remembered where my sisters classes were and how to get home. I found Donna and Betty as I was supposed to do. But then they decided they knew more about getting home than I did.

I couldn't persuade them to go with me straight down F from the school to home, heading north, towards the bay. It was so easy for me, but they had their own idea of where to head. They went straight, but they headed west down Fifth Street, towards North Island. I got home and told either our parents or grandparents that Donna and Betty were headed the wrong way. It did not take long for family to find my wayward sisters. They knew the way after that.

Another time that same year I was walking with two friends home from school. We were across the street from Dorothy's house, on the same block that I lived, when a man asked us if we wanted a ride. I was not wise to the ways of the world, just fresh from several years of "A Little House On The Prairie" existence. Thankfully I was with two wise friends and noted that they were alarmed. They ran to Dorothy's house and thankfully I decided that was what I should do too. Or maybe I just finished the walk home since I was close by. I would have thought it was someone that maybe I knew and was just being nice. The next day the police came to school and asked us questions. I doubt that I was a good witness for the information that they needed.

The second friend that day was Paul's cousin Sally. I have known her since third grade. When we met we were so amazed that our fathers were good friends. Our fathers had their own adventures together over the years.

After this experience I was sure it was my God given duty to warn my sisters of things such as that. But I got carried away and put fear into them that did not need to be part of their young lives. I had just discovered that there were bad people and I was the one to protect my sisters. Who knows, maybe the person who offered us a ride was not really a bad guy. I did a pretty good job of warning my little Kathy too. "Do not take rides from strangers," so she even turned down a ride with my aunt that she knew all her life. I must not have worried too much though as my children pretty much had the run of the island. And that is another story.