An Attic Full Of Memories (Childhood Memories)

Member Name: BestMum

Product:	Childhood Memories
Date:	14/08/02 (107 review reads)
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There are few things more precious in life than memories. For without memories we could not learn, and we could not teach. Thousands upon thousands of memories we've stored over the years, many of them eager to be reborn in a story or tale to a young child who is curious about the ways of the world, which he has yet to experience himself. A picture show from an era departed, and with each memory comes a sound, or a smell unique to that one moment in time, as if a tightly clenched fist has seized the moment and laid it gently into a satin-lined box, lovingly tied with ribbon and hidden it away in the darkness of the attic until it was needed again.

Sometimes we find it's been stored in a less than ideal place and it's taken in a little damp, and the images contained have been spoiled somewhat, but sometimes it's been preserved so well that it's as fresh as the day it was made. Either way, I don't mind how much room is taken over by these little boxes, because each one has a part to play in it's own very special way.

Come with me on a journey back in time, and let me open a couple of these boxes for you. Some of these boxes I've only opened a couple of times to people I love and trust, some of them have been hidden since the day they were made. They're not labelled very well I'm afraid so it's a lucky dip as to which one we get.

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Okay, let's see what's inside this one... I can see mum and dad, looking much younger than they do these days, so it must be a few years ago! They're rushing around, trying to get ready for something. A trip maybe. I like trips, we don't go on too many of those; dad's car doesn't go very fast, in fact he's lucky if it goes at all some times. We can't really afford a new one though so when we go on trips we hire a nice new one for the day.

Mum looks very posh in her new floral dress, an
d she's pointing at a pretty dress hanging on the back of her bedroom door. It's my new outfit, I'd forgotten about it because mum had kept it for a special day.

I know where we're going...we're off to see Aunty Lilly. Well actually she's my dads aunt, and she's very posh and she lives in Blackpool, which means visiting the beach and the pier and fish and chips! Ooh, and we can visit the Pitch and Putt at St Annes too, I love that and I always manage to beat my little brother, Mark, but then he is only four! Dad says I'm getting too old for the Pitch and Putt now because I'm eleven, but I think that's just because I beat him too!

I love to go to her house, it's a bungalow and it's very tidy and neat, and smells nice too. It's very posh and at the back lives a famous person, Frank Carson; although I don't know who he is dad say's he's very funny. Dad reminds us that we always have to say please and thankyou, and we must talk properly, because Aunty Lilly is a proper lady. I can't wait to go, she always gives us some money to spend in Blackpool, for when we've finished afternoon tea. It's so exciting, but I'm a little nervous about remembering my manners. I think I'll do okay though.

Hold on, there's something else in this box. Oh, it's a picture of late last year, and mum and dad are crying. Aunty Lilly has passed away. I feel really sad, the end of an era and no more special trips to Blackpool.

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Let's take out another one. Ah, I'm standing at my front door. And I'm wearing a badge. It says Happy Birthday, and has a number seven on it. The house smells so good, it smells of freshly baked fairy cakes and sausage rolls. There are balloons outside the house. Mum gave me some invitations to take into school for my birthday party, and I'm watching for my friends arriving.


The invitation asked them to be here for 12 noon. I'm waiting. I look at my new watch that mum and dad gave me as a present, and it says it's ten past twelve. I can feel myself getting upset. No-one has come to my party. No-one is coming. No-one likes me, I'm all alone at my party.

I'm still waiting. It's twenty past twelve, my heart is beating very fast. Tears begin to trickle down my face, and I run in to mum, who hugs me very tightly and says not to worry because they'll be here soon. Suddenly there's a knock at the door and my friends start to arrive, and I feel happy again, especially when I see that they're carrying parcels addressed to me.

The party is going really well, and we're playing lots of games. Mum says we should play Musical Bumps and she gets some cushions for the floor, and then explains the rules before she turns the music on. The music goes quiet and we all rush to sit on a cushion, but there isn't one for me. But, it's my birthday and I can't be the first one out of the game. I run to mum and begin to cry again, and she says it's okay; she says I'm a winner anyway because it's my birthday and I'm her special little girl. I feel happy again.

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Wow, this is a big box. There must be a lot of memories in this one, it's so heavy. It's a little worn at the edges but let's take a look anyway. There are lots of parties, I can see myself at my grandparents house at a few of them, sometimes they're at my house. I must be no older than four or five.

The music is playing loudly, people are dancing and drinking. Mum is talking to me in a silly voice so she must be drunk. All of my aunties and uncles are there, and my cousins too.

It's getting late and I'm getting sleepy and I want to go home. I'm scared, I know what usually happens next. I try to hide, or pr
etend that I'm asleep on the sofa while they're shouting in the kitchen. Everyone's had a little too much to drink again, no-one's laughing any more; the music has stopped.

I can hear banging and swearing and I'm sure that if I just close my eyes for a second I'll fall asleep and I won't have to listen to it. I close my eyes and sleep does not come; they come in to see if I'm awake or not. I manage to fool them, but they still carry on.

Sometimes I pretend that I'm asleep so that they'll stop arguing, but it doesn't usually work. Sometimes though I get to stay for the night, and then they carry me up to bed and call to collect me in the morning. This box isn't very nice but I'm sure it's still important, especially when I'm bringing up my child. As a result of these memories, my husband and I never ever raise our voices in front of Rachel, in the hope that her memories will not contain any of the ones I have.

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Okay let's try one more because I could be here all day, there are so many to choose from. This one is tightly wrapped and the ribbon is torn and frayed at the edges. By the look of it I've only opened this box once before, that's usually a sign of a sad memory. I can see myself at the house of someone I know. I like him a lot, but that's because he's always been there, he still makes me feel uneasy though.

It looks like I'm very young, two or three maybe, and he says he wants to go for an afternoon sleep and asks my mum if I want to go too. She says that's fine.

Okay, I remember this box now, and it's really not one that I want to open any further. In fact I'm going to take this box and crush it into tiny tiny pieces so that I don't ever have to open it again.

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Let's try one last time, oh this is my favourite. I'm j
ust one year old, and I can hear the radio playing in the background. We're at my granny's house and I can see mum and dad there too. Daddy lifts me up high and the room is spinning around. Wait a minute, we're dancing! I'm perched on his hip and have one arm around his neck, and one hand in his hand, and we're spinning around and around! He's singing to me. "Save all your kisses for me, save all your kisses for me..."

Daddy singing makes me laugh, he's funny! I can't stop laughing, and in fact I'm laughing so much and spinning so fast that I feel a little...oops, daddy's not laughing any more, he's wiping his face with a tissue. He doesn't look too happy at all. Oh well, at least I feel hungry again and can have some more of grannys lovely coconut sponge cake.


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So, for better or for worse, all have played their own part in making me who I am today. There are lots that I can call upon to help me in my quest to be Best Mum! There are a few that will stay in the attic forever and never see daylight again.

I have a memory that will trigger my every emotion, a memory for all occasions. And it's with these that I look forward to recalling to my daughter, to tell of the things I got up to as a child. Like how I used to fight like crazy with my younger brother, and the time when I told him that I had a direct line to God and if he [my brother] didn't do exactly what I wanted him to do then I would clasp my hands and ask God to do something bad to him. I was only fifteen, ahem, nine or ten at the time so I'm sure the good Lord above will forgive me my sins, I hope!

I've relived some bad ones as well as good ones here with the hope that we realise that what we do in front of our children will stay with them forever. They're far more clever than we think! Thanks for reading :o)

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