DSS-Early Childhood

ETA: After a re-read, this is slightly choppy and bounces a little. Sorry.

Last week I discussed my parents and how they got together.

How about a lesson in early childhood? At the ripe old age of 2 we moved to a trailer on the family farm. There was a ton of family always around, and when my mom was working I spent my time with my grandparents. My grandpa was diagnosed with MS in his 20's and my grandma was in the early stages of losing her sight at this point.

Days with my grandparents are some of my most cherished memories. So many of them are fading, and I'm glad of the few pictures I have of them.

My grandpa, to be here on out called Poppy always let me sit in his lap and drink his coffee when it got cold. He would let me help him shave with one of those 3 round bladed electric shavers.

My grandma, to be called Nanny, schooled me at an early age. I had this book that we kept my homework in and I would get this really awesome red heart stickers when I completed so many assignments. I was reading Dick, Jane, and Sally books by the age of 4.

Once I was in school, I would ride the bus home to the bus stop, and Poppy would pick me up in this 1960's model truck with this horn that sounds so crazy. My sister hated it, I always thought it was cool.

I spent so much time with my Nanny and Poppy because my dad worked out of state a lot. He did (and still does) construction, and places like NJ and CA made a lot more money than the jobs here. My mom worked some then, mostly at convenience stores, but once my dad was back in OK for good my mom and her sister went in together and bought their own store.

Her odd hours and my dad's alcoholism lead to us spending a lot of time with the grandparents, but I don't ever remember thinking, "I wish I was home instead of here." Ya know? It had no ill effect.

One major happening was this really bad storm. I don't remember it, but I know it caused me to be a complete freak about weather. My cousin's wife ran a quarter of a mile to my Poppy's cellar, with my baby cousin (who was the same age as me) because we were in a tornado warning. She didn't have a car, so she cut through the cotton field and had cuts all over her legs and arms. That same cousin whose wife ran, his mom was killed by a single lightening strike on a cloudy day. It wasn't even storming.

To this day, I get extremely anxious about bad weather. Literally, almost to the point of anxiety attacks. It's really the only thing that just completely freaks me out and that I'm unable to be calm and collected about.

So, some milestones, some issues, and a big phobia!!