remembering the tears

I have to admit, one of the reasons I wanted to start a blog was to participate in my sister-in-law's "Memory Lane Friday." This weeks topic is Your First Memory.

I have the worst memory of anyone I know. Apparently most first memories are around age 3; Mine comes from just before my 5th birthday. I have little glimmers of memory prior to this. I remember walking up to the water tower near my house with my sisters and finding a shotgun at the base (which terrified me). I recall watching my sisters making up a dance to Madonna's Dear Jesse. I have little slivers of memories of places I've been, but no recollection of the events that took place there.

Here is a picture of me around the age of my first memory

My first really vivid memory is when my family moved from Painted Post, NY to Honeoye Falls, NY. It was August, just before I turned five. My whole family was gathered in the kitchen of our house. My oldest sister, Emily, was crying because she was moving away from all her friends. The move affected her the most since she was 11 years old at the time. My sister, Julia (8), was also crying, but for a very different reason. She had been outside and a gnat flew in her eye! I remember my dad trying to remove the gnat while tears streamed down her face. I was observing this event and I guess my emotions got the best of me. I was bawling too. I don't recall being all that upset about moving. I'm pretty sure I was crying simply because everyone else was. Whether I was upset because everyone else was or I simply wanted to join in on the cry-fest, I'm not sure. But apparently this event had a big impact on me.

(for some reason I am unable to post the memory lane friday button on my blog, so we will just pretend that I put it here)

...and because I've gotten in trouble before for having a blog post without a photo of Grady...Here he is supporting and remember his fellow Hokies.

(I apologize for the photo being a little blurry)

We are Virginia Tech. We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again. We are Virginia Tech. ~ Professor Nikki Giovanni, April 17, 2007