- Dad cradling me in his arms as he swayed to "Harvest Moon" by Neil Young
- Dad lifting me in the laundry basket and my relentless pleas of "One more time!"
- ballet and tap dance and the meticulously-rehearsed recitals at Miss Melody's
- hiding under the covers from "The Tickle Monster"
- countless nights spent snug under the covers, listening with boundless, raptured delight as Mom read bedtime stories so familiar, they were almost ingrained in my memory (refer to beloved childhood books list below)
- bashfully burying my face in the pillows on the sofa when my family sang "Happy Birthday" at my early birthday parties
- listening to Randy Newman's Land of Dreams
- catching fireflies in the yard with a boy whose name I can't recall
- the beautiful cakes Mom decorated for my birthdays
- painting Dad's face various colors at my fifth birthday party
- outings to the model train store with Dad on weekends
- watching Dad's model trains go clickity-clack on their miniature track
- dancing merrily with Gram at Musikfest
- sitting on the stone wall by Gram's driveway and observing the red mites
- Christmas Eves at Nana's
- the words I famously created as a tot
- the "music bus" and the bus driver who gave us gum
- vacations at Cape May and Chincoteague
- Halloweens passed in the costumes Mom so lovingly made
- Going for walks and picking Queen Anne's lace by the roadside
- Realizing I could swing by myself on the swing set without Daddy pushing me
feb 16 2011 ∞
sep 8 2012 +