Day Six: Earliest Thing You Can Remember

My earliest memory, no joke, is from when I was about 19 months old. On a summer day that year, I very well could have drowned.

Let me explain...

My family and I were playing in the Huzzah River. The adults were hanging out in lounge chairs on the gravel bar, and I was playing at the water's edge with my brother. That's the part I don't remember- that's the part that I've been told over the years.

Here's what I do remember...

I remember playing... and the suddenly a swift current took my feet out from under me. I was pulled to about the middle of the river, and the current kept dragging me under... under... under. At one point, I remember hitting a tree that had fallen below the water's surface.

I remember being terrified. I remember trying to get my head above water. I remember being hopeless. I also remember grasping an item with all of my strength- hoping it would help bring me to safety. Suddenly, out of nowhere, my 18 year-old aunt snatched me up out of the water, held me as tightly as she could, and carried me back to shore. Boy, you should have seen the swimming suit she rescued me in!

My family would have been able to save me had my aunt not been there, but my aunt was young enough, and quick enough, to grab me before anything majorly went wrong.

How do you know I remember this day vividly?

Well, no one believed me... until I told my Granny Sue what I had a death grip on when I was being carried away...

I couldn't find a picture of the actual item, but this was good enough. When we were younger, Granny Sue had plastic kids cups in the shape of fruits.

That day, I had the grape cup, and I can still see my hand holding it as I was being sucked under time and time again. She was amazed that I remembered that cup- and it convinced her that I remembered the details of that day very well.

Maybe that's why I'm scared of water... and still can't "go under" without holding my nose.

Hmmm....