What is you sweetest childhood memory?

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1. One day my dad called from work, which was a big deal, and told me that my brother and I had better be sitting at the kitchen table when he came home, which was a bigger deal. The kitchen table was for Talking Tos, you sat there for Serious Conversations, and if dad was already ordering us to be at the table when he came home we were in big trouble. We spent the rest of the afternoon wondering what we did and accusing each other of fuckery and vowing that we’d huck the other under the bus the second we could because it wasn’t fair for us to both get in trouble for whatever mysterious bullshit the other had clearly done.

   Time for dad to come home. We both were at the table, preparing defenses. When he walked in we were so worried about getting yelled at that we didn’t notice what he was carrying. He had a puppy in his arms, this tiny little black lab, all waggy tail and lolling tongue. We both jumped up and started screaming, and the puppy got all excited, and he let her go so we could roll around on the floor with her and immediately start shouting potential names. It was our first dog and we were so happy.

   Mom was less thrilled. She didn’t know we were getting a puppy either. But she ended up being a great dog.

2. I had a horse growing up and did trail riding. Every October the local horse club would do a Halloween costume ride around the city and my mom would make me these elaborate costumes and my sweet sweet horse would wear them.

   Once we were a fairy and a pegasus. I had a dress and she had 6 foot glitter wings and a horn.

   My favorite was when we were matching ballerinas. My mom made us tutus, my horse’s was around her belly and was made of purple tulle, mine was blue and they stuck out really far. Then we wrapped her legs in ribbon to look like ballet laces and painted her hooves.

   For Christmas she had a Santa hat that went on her bridle between her ears and we would string tinsel and battery powered lights around her and go for rides.

   She loves me so so much and would do anything I asked of her. Others, not so much. She is retired at my mom’s house now and I go back and visit her. And my mom too.

3. Anytime someone cracked open a cold, crisp watermelon on a summer day, it was usually a good day.