Flash back....

So we were talking about earrings last night. Getting your ears pierced, etc. When was the right time. Blah, blah, blah. Of course, that sparked one of my first story-memories for the class I'm taking with Jessica Sprague. I've always said that I have very few memories of childhood, but that's really not true. When I sit down and think about it, or hear other people talk about things, my memory is sparked.

Teddy bears. I loved them. They were tiny, gold bears. So delicate. I was afraid I'd lose them. Perhaps that's what cause me to tighten the back so tightly onto my ears that my lobes swelled. And got infected. And painful. And no one noticed, until I finally told them. I remember sitting in the kitchen. Poor mom and dad. They looked worried. As I sat on the kitchen chair mom tried and tried and tried to get the earrings unhooked. They wouldn't budge. I told you I wedged them on tightly. I didn't want to lose those beautiful earrings. How old was I? I was young. Maybe 1st grade. They hurt. My ears were swollen. Hot. Weeping with infection. Trying to get them out hurt. Poor mom. Poor me. Finally dad got his pliers from the garage. Scary. But there's no way those earrings were coming out without more force than fingers could provide. Poor me, the earrings had been in long enough for the backs to almost grow into my swollen earlobes. I just didn't want to lose them. I didn't know any better. Finally, after much effort, they were freed. And those teddy bears were never the same. I never again looked at them with longing. Especially after weeks of hydrogen peroxide and healing. Ouch.