My Story in Lists|Memories as a Child

Even though I was only a toddler when we moved to Brazil, I remember pockets of our life there.

It is here that we first met the Yoder's. I don't remember their daughter's name, but I did remember Darrell, the eldest son and I believe, Carl, was the name of the youngest. I don't know if it was on this day in particular, but I do remember being in just a t-shirt and training pants on one of their visits and feeling embarrassed by it. I also remember wishing I could say something to my mom, but just suffering in silence. It made me feel like a baby.

I also remember vague parts of a trip we made to the beach. It was here that I learned that you can't take food into the ocean and expect it to taste good. I don't know how it was that I was able to go into the water with a peanut butter sandwich in my hand because at this time, any parent worth their salt strictly adhered to the 20 minute rule.

For those not in the know, the 20 minute rule was an agonizing rule thought up by someone who obviously did not like children which said that you must not go into the water until 20 minutes after you eat. Go into the water any earlier than 20 minutes and you would get cramps and drown. I suppose I should be thankful that mom and dad abided by the rule which was an indication of their love for us at the time.

Being a lover of the water and the beach, the 20 minute rule was, for me, horribly torturous so it may have been that I tried to circumvent the rule by sneaking a peanut butter sandwich into the water with me. One giant wave later, and I quickly learned that one cannot take food into the ocean and not expect that it would become nothing more than fish food.