Shanan
This is a comment I recieved from Shanon on Memory-Go-Round. I want to share it because nearly drowning is an amazing first memory!
My earliest memory is clear as a bell. I was about 16 months old, and for whatever reason, I didn’t have a life vest on in the boat. I remember clear, blue water. I was reaching for it. It was cold outside, and I remember my fingers hurting against the wind. (Why we were out on the lake on a day like that is beyond me LOL) I reached over, closer and closer, until I went overboard. I looked up and saw light fading to dark. I saw the white bottom of the boat getting smaller. Then the world blurred… my brother had jumped in. Next thing I remember is being pushed above the water’s surface and my dad grabbing me. As fast as he handed me to my mom, he dove in. My mom told me years later, Keith was wearing a heavy, down jacket that day, and when he jumped in, it filled with water. He couldn’t push himself back into the boat for the weight of his jacket, and he was in a panic.
I have a ton of memories from then on, but through conversations with my mom, I’ve concluded that’s my earliest.
I was maybe two years old and fell into a pond at the San Diego Zoo while looking at the gold fish. I still remember the water closing in over me as I looked up at the sky. A family friend pulled me out. I was wearing Osh Kosh overalls, and my rescuer unsnapped the button on the chest pocket and asked if I had caught any goldfish. Scary, but I don’t think I’d remember it without the humor.
Thanks for sharing!