Happy Birthday Dad & Gramma Edie!

Today is double birthday day. My father was born on his mom's birthday, way back when. I was talking to Cathy today at work about it, and got to thinking about different birthday, Logan's, my own, Mom's, Dad's and David's. Sometimes I wonder whether the memories that I carry with me are REALLY the way things transpired, or whether my recollections are 100% true.


I remember 'driving' the truck from our house in Newmarket to the dump in Aurora, when I was about 4 years old. I sat on Dad's knee and steered, while he worked the pedals. I remember driving to the dump one Saturday morning and going to McDonald's afterwards for breakfast, just Dad and I. Strangely enough, I remember the funny squeaky noise the plastic knives made on the styrofoam hotcakes container.


I remember Bo, our little pug puppy, running down the driveway and up the street to steal a hamburger from Sonya who was about 5 years old. Bo grabbed the burger, and got half way back up our driveway before Sonya could recover enough to scream. Nobody was hurt.


I remember going to the hospital with Aunt Blanche to visit Baby Stephen and his mother. Then Blanche took me to a restaurant in the Old Plaza where we ate the biggest strawberry waffles I'd ever seen.


I remember racing my bike up and down the main road of our subdivision because Uncle Glenn and Aunt Nancy were coming for a day at our pool. The best part about their visits was that they always brought Jaime, who is 9 years younger than I am, and Gramma. I guess Matthew must have come with them because he's only maybe three or four years older than Jaime - but I don't really remember his presence. Nice eh?


I remember asking Grandma Morton (Mom's mom) if I could eat some of the 'yummy stuff' out of a jar in her fridge. The yummy stuff was sticky fruit peel (for fruitcake), and she let me eat it by the spoonfull. That might just be the oldest memory I've got, because Grandma moved in with us in 1978 or 79, so I was probably 3 or four years old. I also remember she kept a small margerine tub full of rat poison behind her washing machine. I don't remember being warned not to touch it - and yet I know it was there. Strange.


On the wall above the door in Grandma's kitchen, there were three or four ceramic Canada Geese. They hung all in a row as if they were flying south, with their bellies flush to the wall. One day a little girl came running into the kitchen and let the door bang shut behind her, and one of those geese crashed to the floor and broke. I don't remember whether I was the guilty party (I like to think it was my cousin, Marlene), but I do remember all of the geese hanging together on the wall, so I guess someone fixed the broken one.


I remember leaving all my toys after supper on Christmas Day to go home for a sleepover at Aunt Gwen & Uncle George's. I did it every weekend (or at least every other) so Christmas was no exception. I would imagine I brought at least one of my Christmas presents with me.


I remember enough that I think I'll do another one of these posts another day!