I remember my mother would wear a housecoat when cleaning the house in the mornings.

I remember a bus ride very nearly 20 years ago that began with Tien dropping me off at the downtown station in Madison near West Wash and ended with my housemate Tim and his boyfriend Mickey picking me up at the downtown station in Minneapolis before navigating rush hour traffic all the way down Hennepin Ave to get me to the place I'd only be able to call home for another day or two.

I remember when everybody used to wear watches on their wrists.

I remember showing off my (pre-Spotify) Zune MP3 player while sitting with the family in the living room on Struemph Court in Jeff City on the day Dad was released from the hospital following his heart attack.

I remember that it was considered improper to wear white shoes before Memorial Day and after Labor Day.

I remember how pretty the strawberry fields looked after they were plowed and weeded in the summer.

I remember a kid in high school named Jonas Jenkins who would often ask me for blank sheets of paper during class, and just for fun I once wrote "Reserved for J.J." on a sheet before he asked, and when he saw it his face turned red and he never asked me for anything again.

I remember during harvest time, our fingers remained a dull reddish strawberry color during the month of May, even after washing them.

I remember 1956 was a bumper strawberry crop and our biggest harvest ever. 

I remember the daily whirl of activity on the farm every May as we worked nonstop to pick the luscious strawberries before they rotted within a couple days after ripening.

I remember Daniel punched a hole with his fist in the back door on Veil of Tears one day when he locked himself out and didn't realize I had left the house to run some errands.

I remember many times at 5121 assembling the roof rake before trudging through deep snow to rake first the front and then the back, avoiding power lines and being careful not to damage gutters, and (when the kids were little and would watch me from inside) trying to pull as much snow as possible down in front of the windows for entertainment value.

I remember showing our kids what happened when you poured salt on snails.

I remember my mom seemed to always have some chewing gum in her pocketbook when we were getting ready to take a trip and would sometimes split a stick in half for each of us.