Day 9 - I am finally caught up!!

July 9 - Least favorite childhood memory

Well this is not a cheerful blog challenge. But I am cheerful to be caught up and writing TODAY's challenge!

My least favorite childhood memories, in a general sense, were probably all about good-byes. We moved around so much that it seemed we were always saying goodbye to someone! As an adult I can look back now and realize that this means my life was so full and rich - it is nice to be loved enough that saying goodbye is painful! At the time, of course, it was just sad!

In a more particular sense, however, my least favorite childhood memory comes from a trip back to the states when my Grandfather passed away. My mom's parents were divorced so I had two sets of Grandparents on her side. The ones that I knew well and was close to were her mom and step-dad. To all of us he has always been grandpa. My biological grandfather got sick. He was dying. We knew this when we went to Indiana to see him. My parents did not even allow us to go and see him in the hospital as they thought it would scare us. He was dying of lung cancer. One of the days we were there my mom and my aunt were at the hospital visiting him. My cousins and my siblings were staying at my Grandma's house during this time. Leslie and I were playing together when we heard the phone ring. We were close enough to the phone to hear as my Grandmother got the news. My grandfather had died. Neither of us were extremely close to my grandfather but obviously we were sad. The worst part of this memory, however, is that we were worried for our mothers. We did not think they knew about it. (of course now I know they are the ones who called my grandmother but at the time...). When they came home not too long after the phone call Leslie and I hid under the dining room table. We did not want to be the ones to have to tell our mothers that their father had died. It broke our hearts and we could not take it. To this day I remember the sadness I felt for my mom.

There were other bad memories, of course, but this one has always stood out in my memory.