Close your eyes and think back to your earliest memories of childhood. What stands out the most? What memories and moments put a smile on your face?
When I close my eyes, I can almost smell the woodsmoke in the crisp fall air, and hear the crunch of fallen leaves under my feet, on one the many nature walks I took as a child. When I hear the word circus, I’m taken back to a time when I was a third of the size I am now, my father lying on his back and bouncing me on his feet as I held onto his outstretched hands [for dear life]. Laughter, lots and lots of laughter. My father smoothing my forehead with the palm of his hand, saying “smooth as a baby’s behind,” and my mother calling me “Lauren Bethy-Boo” in a sing-song voice. These memories are the result of simple moments in my childhood, but each has had a larger, lasting impact on me.
