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Chapter 1 Early Childhood

I lived in Bedford, Virginia when I was first born. I was a happy healthy baby. When I was six months old, I could say, “Dada” and when I was one year old, I could walk and count howmany blocks were falling. I started staying with a retired English teacher when I was three months old. This woman kept both her granddaughter and me. I called her, “Memaw”. We all three did a lot of fun stuff together. We played in the swimming pool, we watched Barney on T.V., and we took walks. One time we walked over to her neighbor’s house, I put my hands in his bushes, and a bee stung me. I have never gotten over that fear since then. I could count how many horses and cows were in the field near my babysitter’s house because I could say my ABC’s and 123’s when I was a little more than one year old. Another time my babysitter’s cat scratched me. I have always had a fear of cats after that. I nicknamed my babysitter’s cat, “Peniecia”. I used to talk to my parents about Peniecia at my house a lot. My parents thought that it was an imaginary friend that I was talking about. They later realized that I gave my babysitter’s cat a nickname. I stayed with this woman for three years.

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