EARLIEST MEMORIES, PART 2

The published blog about earliest memories has proved to be a popular one with my readers, but additional memories keep turning up that I must share with you. They are not from personal interviews, but through my reading and even through my own memory. I have written these up in some document but where it is now is anyone’s guess. Better to tell you twice, if I am doing so, than not to tell you at all.

In The Greater Journey, Americans in Paris by David McCullough, we hear the story of a nursemaid who took her little charge for a daily airing in his carriage. One day, he spied a red cobblestone fixed into a street, or onto a building, and loved it instantly for its beauty. Every day he begged to see it again. This baby grew up to be a famous American artist John Singer Sargent, a real master with the paintbrush.

Another earliest memory has to do with sound rather than color. The story came from my reading at a young age and it has stayed with me.

This infant took her daily naps to the sound of classical music playing right beside her crib. She grew up to be the famous contralto Marian Anderson, noted for her inimitable performance of “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?”

It’s easy to understand how such influences can work for our children’s betterment—if only parents could study a few of such stories—and make a little time for the effort. But it must start early. It’s possible the music played for the baby the very day she was born and every day thereafter. The baby who saw the red stone would need to be a wee bit older than the sleeping baby girl.

These stories are a delight. I hope to find more of them. ♥