I remember at 4

I remember picking out a stuffed dog for my sister when she was born and a doll for me. The dog smelled like baby powder. That was at Lionel Playworld, the best store ever for a kid that age. I remember her crib (or maybe it was the changing table) being at the foot of our bunk beds until we moved to the new house. I had the top bunk so I’d sit up there and watch my mom take care of her.

The new house was a split level. Walking into the front door put you at the middle level with the living room and kitchen. To clean the kitchen floor Mom would dump soapy water on it and then we used netting scrubs as “ice skates” and would skate around the floor scrubbing up all the marks. Then she’d pull out big towels and we’d get down on all fours and “bunny hop” around to soak up the water.

You went up half a flight on the left to the three bedrooms and bathroom. My sister and I shared a room. I remember everyone trying to demonstrate to her how to crawl up and down the stairs when she started crawling.

You went down half a flight to the family room and moderately unfinished laundry room (I remember the fire in that room, but that’s not for a few more years). Down another half from there put you in the unfinished basement. Dad helped my brother and I build a Noah’s Ark for my sister for Christmas one year. Or maybe it was us helping him. Mom made the stuffed animals for it.

Most of the dreams I have that are located at “home” are located at that house. It was in a circle so the backyard was huge. When I picture yards or gardens in my mind while I’m reading I picture that yard.

I remember the flood waters filling the streets of Salt Lake City.

I remember putting the Christmas music box on the shelf over the stairs down to the lower level. I don’t know if I necessarily remember the first time we did that, but I remember doing it and I was 4 when we started.

I remember being on the side of the road after the car accident and Grandpa coming to pick us up. I remember trying to get everything packed the night before for our trip. I remember sitting on our parents bed while they read to us that night. I remember playing with a wind-up cat at Grandpa’s house later and thinking it flipping over was just like the car.