I’ve been told that I was an easy-going baby who was happy most of the time. My mom told me I was born early and was a “blue baby.” I had a difficult time learning to read, and my mom told me it was probably because I had been a blue-baby at birth. Actually, I was a little dyslexic, but they didn’t know of such things then. I thought I must have been oxygen-deprived during the birth process, but I have learned since that being a “blue-baby” was a family term that just meant I was a difficult birth.
A story I was often told was that my older sister would only have to be told once to not do a certain behavior, and she would comply. However, it would take several times, including the slapping of my hand to get me to behave. I would just put my hand back and wait for it to be slapped again. That sounds about right.
My earliest memory is as a toddler. I must have been four or five. Our family was visiting another family. I remember a scary movie was on the T.V. It was The Devil and Daniel Webster. It probably wasn’t that scary of a movie, but the movie had the devil in it! My memory is of being under a wooden dining table and hiding behind the table legs during the “scary” parts. I should probably watch the movie now. It might not be so scary.
My dad was the principal of a small elementary school in Escalon, CA, when I was a toddler. Dad would put my older sister and me in the kindergarten room while he worked in the office. He had the intercom on so he could monitor our sounds. I guess there was a time when I started screaming and crying very loudly. When Dad came to investigate, I told him, “Gonya bit me!” I guess this was the first time I was able to talk in a sentence, which surprised Donna.
I have a scar on my knee from that same time period. I guess Donna and I were playing, and I somehow fell and the skin on my knee split open. I remember being put up on a table or counter while my dad attended to the cut. I think it required two or three stitches to close the wound.
Generally, I am told that I was a fairly easy baby. I had a good disposition and just took things as they came. It is amazing to me how much of your personality is determined so early in life.
Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 