Nojomo 24 in Nojomo 2014

What is my earliest memory. I’m not utterly sure, but the memory I claim to be my earliest is all around the birth of my sister. I nearly said younger sister, but I’d hope it was my little sister if I remember it!!

I was three years and four months old, we were having an extension on the living room where there used to be a porch, similar to those that are associated with the old south of the USA. The living room was out of bounds and the room that had been an integral garage when we moved into the house was our temporary living room. We had a three piece suite with wooden arms and legs, a rubber seat and very dark green thin, square cushions over the seat and along the black. If you lay underneath you could scratch designs into the rubber with your fingernail.

Nana and grandad had come to look after us while l’il sis was born, I have a memory of my grandad, with his slicked back black hair and his 1960’s style nhs glasses, sitting, my nana in another chair and all of us feeling very cosy - it was a single car garage originally!

Then my memory is off visiting my mum in the maternity hospital. My picture is fuzzy and blurred, I remember lots of light green, different shades of light green, and I have a feeling of light and shade. My main focus was this huge bed, it had bars and was too tall for me to be able to reach the top. It felt like a barrier from my mum and I wanted to get on it. I have an almost faded photo of being on the bed, but also a nagging feeling that I wasn’t allowed on the bed.

Then mum came home, she had this baby which felt strange, big bro and big sis carried her so I wanted to carry her too. But I was too small and not allowed. That was the moment that my hate started and it carried on right through until mid teenage years. Had I never resented her I’d have realised what a great person she was. At least I did eventually though.

So that’s my earliest memory.