Topic: The story of my life, or perhaps, someone else's
I decided, after much deliberation, to post this here, for reasons that will become obvious in later accounts.
In any story, it is best, to start at the beginning. Since this is the story of my life as I remember it, the beginning will seem quite incomplete and scattered. Please bear with me. I will try, in this telling, to refrain from any judgement, labeling or assumptions. I will not state my time or place of birth etc. as I do not remember these details myself. This account is based soley on my own memories and so it may seem that my life started when I was about 3 years old, and in a way, I guess you could say, it did.
My first clear memory, or impression is very brief. I have no idea how old I was except that a woman whom I now know as my mother, was holding me with one arm, facing away from her. We were on a balcony in an open doorway and she was having a serious conversation with a man in some kind of uniform. I do not remember the conversation, as I did not understand language at that time(or at least hers). I do however remember the tone of the conversation and I could tell by this alone, 1. she did not know the man, 2. he was asking her something, looking for someone, 3. she was not uneasy or afriad, 4. the brief conversation was not meaningful to her and was quickly forgotton, by her.
In between this and my next clear impression, there are only sketchy broken memories of playing with my sister, eating , playing with friends and listening to music (I actually have vivid clear memories of which songs and music, words and chords etc. and at the age of about 3 used rubber bands stretched across the arms of a chair, in differant tensions, to make a "banjo") . Mixed in also with these pleasant memories are memories of screaming, violent arguments between my "parents", going to my maternal gandparents' house and returning home.
My next impression or memory is of a visitor to our house in Indiana. I was about 3 or 4. A man came to our house whom I had never seen before ,to my recollection. Mother said he was her cousin and he had come to visit us. He brought my sister and I military uniforms, an unusual gift for girls at that time, yet I was thrilled and amazed that this stranger had given me a gift that I had been wishing for and had not mentioned to anyone. I also distinctly remember that no matter how hard I tried to focus, I could not see his face because it appeared blurry and also that he was a very large man. After a short time, Mother and "cousin" went into the bedroom to talk and my sister and I were told to play hide and seek. Before they left the room, the man looked directly at me and then at a large ice chest in the corner of the room. I do not remember getting into the ice chest. I only remember (as if a totally disconnected event from the previous account) Mother opening the chest and getting me out. She seemed very upset and told me about the nature of ice chests and oxygen necessity, etc. and that I should never do that again or I might die. I remember no reaction from the cousin, I don't remember him leaving. In fact , the only other thing that I remember is that I was not in the least upset or afraid.
... to be continued.