I believe that every childhood should be a fairytale. I was lucky. For the most part mine was. Growing up in Victoria on Maxine Lane in Cordova Bay Canada was just that.
We lived in this very quaint two story house at the end of the lane. To the right of our house was a huge field of grazing horses, maybe 20 or 30 acres, behind us was nothing but forest. In front of us was another small lane with fields and blackberry bushes. When I journeyed back recently every single field was gone, it was all covered with houses.
Being a child and growing up there opened up a lot of doors for exploration. I don’t think too many children growing up today have the chance to explore in their own forest. There is nothing the same about my old neighborhood. We didn’t live right on the ocean, but within a short distance–literally it was 10 minutes away– and of course we walked or rode our bikes there very often. Every single summer of my childhood was spent going down to the beach with my family, mostly with my mother and my two sisters.
In a summer ritual, Dad would put up the pop-up tent trailer where I would promptly move into for the summer, imagining that I was traveling to some far off place.
Here are 10 photos of my early childhood as a baby:
1. The safest place in the world was always with my mum.
2. Even as a baby learning how to walk, I always wanted to be helpful.
3. I loved to play dress up. I was about 3 years old. I played a sheep for a church nativity scene.
4. My parents made me a fantastic cake for my first birthday.
5. Every cardboard box became my new castle or a place to hide.
6. Christmas time was always magical. Christmas was the time of year when we were all allowed to be super happy.
7. When mum potty trained me, she use to give me a raisin each time I used it. Sometimes I would sit on the pot for what seemed like hours to try and squeeze out a drop of pee just to get that raisin.
8. My older step half sister Janice and I always had such a magical time together playing. She always took such gentle care of me.
9. And I in turn fell in love with my younger sister Marlana.
10. My Dad is about 35 in this photo. Don’t you just love the fashion back then?
What are some of your favorite childhood memories or moments?
