I remember dropping off three months worth of Dr. Pepper cans for cash at a convenience store in Waverly in November 1988, not realizing I'd have to arrange every single one of them into 24-count cardboard trays while Grandma and Grandpa waited in the car to begin our drive to Jeff City for Thanksgiving.

I remember my sophomore year of college, Betty, Nancy, and I pushed our twin beds together to make one king-size bed, and I always slept in the middle.

I remember in the spring of 1992 Aunt Lou bought me a microwave that I used until I moved from Minneapolis to Madison in 2005.

I remember my freshman year of college, I roomed with a Texas girl named Lucy who said that I had probably never heard of northers.

I remember I was so bad at cleaning that my friends Jen and Denise came over to my 8th St. apartment in Waverly once and cleaned my bathroom, probably out of disgust.

I remember my forte in speech tournaments was extemporaneous speaking.

I remember how my kittens Aleister and Zoe, who were brothers, would chase each other around my apartment when I lived on 8th St. in Waverly.

I remember the first time I had a headache (as a child), I thought I was seriously ill. (My dad had to reassure me that it would go away.)

I remember my senior year of college I really did slack off in my studies after I'd secured a full time position with Century Companies.

I remember eating candy corn -- biting off the white tip first, then the orange, and then the yellow.

I remember my junior year of college I lived with Steve, Gary, and Thad in Wiederaenders Manor.

I remember singing the same song at the beginning of every pre-school class I taught on Sundays: "What is in the Love Box? Who can tell? Maybe it's a flower, maybe it's a shell. What is in the Love Box? Who can see? Something that shows God's love for me."

I remember my sophomore year of college I was so frustrated at having needlessly taking Calculus III that I added a math major just so it would mean something.

I remember when women were not allowed to wear slacks, jeans, or any kind of pants to work.

I remember my freshmen year of college rooming with Larry, who was really into solo Peter Cetera, Sammy Hagar-era Van Halen, and Rick Astley.

I remember Dad sharing with me one of Churchill's quotes: "It's a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."

I remember in 12th grade around 3:05 each afternoon I'd cut through Nichols Career Center, past Thorpe Gordon Elementary, down Woodlawn Ave to where Chris was parked on Adams, then drive downtown to the News Tribune parking lot and fold papers on the hood of his Ford Mustang before heading out to litter the lawns of the south side of Jeff City with tales of war and of waste.

I remember when my dad was really concentrating on something that you could see the tip of his tongue at the side of his mouth.

I remember in 11th grade Mr. Stuart came in with his hand heavily bandaged and said he'd had an accident while butchering.

I remember Art Firley gave us a window air-conditioner one very hot summer in Missouri.

I remember in 10th grade English coming across the Emerson quote "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" for the first time.

I remember the white shoes I wore at my Confirmation.

I remember in 9th grade Coach Cole always carried a white styrofoam spit cup around with him during gym class.

I remember playing the organ for someone's funeral at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, but I can't remember whose.

I remember in 8th grade two girls named Dori and Burie were in my math class and a boy named David always called them Dorito and Burrito.

I remember seeing a classmate in high school have an epileptic seizure.

I remember in 7th grade listening to "Eye Of The Tiger" by Survivor on some kid's walkman.

I remember occasional day trips to Roman Nose State Park with my family.

I remember in 6th grade Mom was my homeroom substitute teacher one day.  (Vague memory - correct me if I'm wrong on this Mom)

I remember roasting marshmallows.

I remember in 5th grade outscoring Craig Smith for once on a test and getting to go down to the principal's office for some kind of special commendation.

I remember riding my bicycle on hot summer days throughout the neighborhood.

I remember in 4th grade getting in trouble for flicking little balls of paper up at the ceiling during class.

I remember knocking on some stranger's door in Winfield, KS, and telling her how beautiful the glass figurines were in her window.

I remember in 3rd grade a boy named Aaron throwing up on my friend Chris, who sat in front of him in class.

I remember having a hairpiece in college that I could pin onto the top of my head when I has having a "bad hair" day.

I remember in 2nd grade piercing my right palm with a sharp pencil.

I remember Mrs. Gillette, my 7th-grade Social Studies' teacher - short, prim, a bit on the chunky side.

I remember in 1st grade sitting next to Stephanie Boxberger.

I remember my speech teacher, Mrs. Gifford, telling us how poor she was when she first started teaching -- having only two dresses to wear alternately to class.

I remember in kindergarten writing the numbers from 1 to 100.

I remember visiting with Tien's aunt from Arizona at Tien and Danielle's wedding.

I remember my nightly neighborhood walks in late March early April 2020, when I was laid off from work and everything was weird.

I remember how excited I was the first time I walked into 232 #5 in Beaver Dam.

I remember the last time I worked a full-time job where I stayed at one location all the time was August 12, 1994.

I remember putting fingernail polish over a tick to kill it when at Lutherhoma Camp.

I remember donning two pairs of cloth gloves and a third pair of waterproof gloves and then trying to keep up with the scalding hot output of the giant Wartburg cafeteria dishwasher my freshman year of college.

I remember making snow ice-cream.

I remember driving home from work during lunch (summer 1990) so I could help demolish our old green shed.

I remember one summer I took Sophie and Henry to a different park every time I came to take care of them.

I remember reading Isaac Asimov all alone in a Missouri Hwy Dept lab while everyone else was crammed into a small break room playing cards during lunch hour (summer 1989).

I remember playing with hula hoops.

I remember I began saving emails on February 1, 2001, and as far as I know I have them all (except junk mail).

I remember Danielle wearing her Brownie outfit - little cap and vest.

I remember being so excited for a road trip that I blasted the intro to Pink Floyd's "Time" on my stereo in the 5288 basement in order to wake everyone up, but it had no discernible effect.

I remember Mark spending 1999 New Year's Eve Y2K with us waiting for the big whatever.

I remember the bathroom that connected the two bedrooms in my Intemann Grandparents' house.

I remember the almost day-glo green my parents requested (and years later finally got) versus the darker olive green that the painters of our newly-built house substituted without telling us.

I remember the first pair of little white shoes that we bought Mark when he started walking.

I remember Grandpa installing the laundry chute in the bathroom closet and hanging the chandelier in the living room at Veil Of Tears.

I remember collecting various kinds of plants and mounting them for a science project in high school.

I remember the only time I ever had trouble with a handsy gay guy was at a Friendsgiving in Minneapolis and his boyfriend later apologized profusely.

I remember what the sky looked like from the top of the Hancock Building when we attended Danielle and Tien's wedding.