No thanks to you, I decided what present to give my sister.

This present, which you most probably shall hear more about as it nears completion, includes collecting memories and pictures from family members and friends. One of the things I noticed while we did a similar thing for my mother was that you can easily see a pattern in people's words. If five or more people say that you're gentle and kind, odds are they're probably right.

As I go through the emails, I enjoy seeing other people's opinions of my sister. I like the similarities cause they define my sister's core traits. I also like to see the ones who are distinctly different. It makes me wonder why she has such a unique relationship with this person when compared to the others.

Since a large portion of the present is a long story by me, I figured I should dig into my bank of memories and pull out a few entertaining moments. To my dismay, I realized that I can't remember anything from before kindergarten.

I can recall how much I cried when my mother took me to my first day in kindergarten. I have strong memories of my first day of elementary school. But nothing before the age of five. With one exception. I remember when my sister taught me to read. She was lying on my parent's bed, reading a newspaper, and I asked her to show me how she read. Starting with the large headlines, she taught me each letter. I can't remember how old I was but I know it was before kindergarten.

I've seen many photographs of my childhood, a whole lot of them with my sister, so I know I'm not adopted. But, for the life of me, I can't remember anything from the first five years of my life. The symbolism of such a lack of memory must be strong but I have absolutely no idea what it means.

It's not that I had a sad childhood, we have home videos and photos proving otherwise, but I somehow erased that part of my brain. Maybe I overwrote it with information on how to create hash tables or linked lists.

What's the earliest childhood memory you can remember?

Previously? First Time