Things I remember..

One of my earliest childhood memories is of my family living in Shreveport, Louisiana in a 4 room duplex. There was a living room, one bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen. I believe I was between 3 and 4 years old. My youngest brother had not made his way into the world yet. My dad was in barber school and we lived there for whatever length of time he was in school. We did not have a car. We rode the bus or walked wherever we needed to go. I remember my mama telling my daddy she had a headache one night. Being the helpful person that I am, I volunteered to get her an aspirin. To my knowledge, aspirin was the only headache remedy that existed back then. I ran to the kitchen, climbed up in a chair, and then climbed on the counter, grabbed the bottle of aspirin, removed the top (no such thing as child proof tops back then) and then I dropped the bottle and aspirin went everywhere. In my effort to cover up this incident, I started eating the aspirin. And then mama walked in. She wanted to know what I was doing and I told her I was getting her an aspirin for her headache. I don't think it took her long to realize what I had done. I don't remember how I got to the hospital, to get my stomach pumped, but I do remember being there and waking up in a semi-private room with another girl who was older then me, and who had a giant stuffed bear sitting by her bed. I remember eating cornflakes for breakfast. I didn't like cornflakes either. I am pretty sure I only spent one night in the hospital since we didn't have health insurance. I have no idea what that incident cost my parents, or if it cost them anything at all. But, I did learn a lesson from this experience. Don't eat what you drop on the floor. It might make you sick.