Naked First Memory // 24th Birthday

I was born in an apartment in Colerain Township, Ohio — not literally in the apartment, but that’s where we lived until I was 3.

My earliest memory must’ve come at 1 or 2 years old. I know it’s an actual memory because we don’t have any home videos of it. Sometimes you think you remember something, but really you just remember watching the footage. This was an actual memory and there’s nothing really special about it besides the fact it’s my first memory.

I remember my mom’s stocky, light pink curtains hanging over the window; it cast a rosy glow over the room. I remember my sister’s princess fortress. I was hiding between the bed (also pink) and the far-side wall. I was naked.

If I do remember correctly, I was being mischievous. I wasn’t supposed to be running around the place naked, but there I was. Naked. I remember peeking above the bed just enough to reveal my forehead to see if mom had come looking for me. Sunlight filled the room. Salmon cotton candy, I’d call it. Not the smell, but the way it looked.

That was over 20 years ago.

I am 24 as of today. The idea of being 24 seems so old in my mind. Growing up, 24 means you’re grown up. You’re an adult. And that means you know everything. Even when I was 17 or 18, the age 24 sounded so mature.