Chapter Two: First Memories

My childhood was quite good... my brother and I were happy and cared for. We had parents who doted on us. Some of my fondest memories come from those first five years. There were ponies and horses and picnics in the woods... really, thinking back, I suppose I was quite spoiled. There were family get to gethers with my moms sisters and their families. Games of hide and seek played in the barn... Or making a harness out of baler twine and playing "horsey" in the yard. There were of course the typical accidents that children have. The occasional scraped knee or split lip from falling on the concrete or gravel. And then, soon after I turned five, my little world was turned upside down. We were moving... away from all my cousins and friends, away from all I'd ever known. True, I was only five, but even for a small child that makes quite an impact. Before I quite knew what was happening trucks were being loaded and we were on our way to the next step of our journey... A little town in Illinois called Ina...