A Simple Memory of Childhood

by Susan Kaye
(California, PA, U.S.)

When I was around three years old my Grandmother owned a house in a retirement community. My parents used to pack three of us, children, in their car and drive out to see her every Sunday.

My earliest childhood memory was of her backyard. I vaguely remember playing on the green grass. I watched the birds eating from the bird seeder that stood in the middle of the lawn surrounded by colorful flowers. They might have been marigolds or tulips. I remember turning around on the grass and looking toward the back porch. My Grandmother and parents would be standing there talking.

I don’t remember what they could have been speaking about. They might have been discussing political games of that year or maybe my parents were asking her about the community and whether or not if she enjoyed living there. My brother and sister were probably playing in the game room on this big orange lounge chair that she had. Actually, I am not even sure if it really was orange. I think it was.

Only my parents and Grandmother were standing on the porch. I don’t recall if they were smiling, but I am going to assume that they were. If I could change this memory then I would have added my siblings to the memory. I think it would have been a great memory of a family if my siblings were standing and smiling with the adults.