Day 18, Saturday: Tell a story from your childhood. Dig deep and try to be
descriptive about what you remember and how you felt.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and forced myself out of bed. I was 4-years-old and it was 4am on a summer day. Mom told me I could go back to sleep, but I was determined I could do it. I wore a stocking cap and warm jacket. The air was cool, though the temps would soon rise with the sun, with the big kids out in the fields.
I climbed onto the "berry picker" to the smell of gas & oil and felt the vibration of the engine beneath my feet. I held onto the chain as we started off with a jerk. I waved to mom. I was going with the big kids to the fields!
I felt important as I sat on the cracked vinyl seat and picked the bad berries, stink bugs, and green worms from the belt. The sun rose over the fir trees and heated my back. Stuffing juicy raspberries in my mouth every chance I got, I was scolded by an older sibling. But, I didn't mind, cuz I was with the big kids in the field.
I felt important as I sat on the cracked vinyl seat and picked the bad berries, stink bugs, and green worms from the belt. The sun rose over the fir trees and heated my back. Stuffing juicy raspberries in my mouth every chance I got, I was scolded by an older sibling. But, I didn't mind, cuz I was with the big kids in the field.
When I was bored, or tired, I had the luxury of laying on the warm metal floor. The squished berries and dirt didn't bother me. My jacket was my pillow. I napped. I watched the berry rows go by. I saw my siblings working hard. I was with the big kids in the field.
By mid-morning, the flats were stacking up on the rack. I convinced someone (perhaps brother Casey) to lift me up to sit up next to the flats. I could see my cousin's house from there and with pride, I wondered if they would notice me there, with the big kids in the field.
Mom came out to the picker when we were on a row close to the house. She brought us Popsicles. She told me I should come in for lunch. I did. Tuna fish sandwiches with home canned pickles and cold milk. After a morning with the big kids out in the field.
Perhaps she thought I was too little to work on the picker. But, she didn't know how that day would stay in my mind for years to come. How the memory would bring warm feelings and a tear to my eye. She didn't know how special I felt that day...
Perhaps she thought I was too little to work on the picker. But, she didn't know how that day would stay in my mind for years to come. How the memory would bring warm feelings and a tear to my eye. She didn't know how special I felt that day...
The day I was with the big kids out in the field.
