The Ravenna Period (1965-1969)
I was born on January 8, 1965. I have no memories of the first two or so years of my life and the exact times and dates of the events I do remember are unclear. However, these are my earliest memories.
At this time, I lived in a house with my family on Walnut Street in Ravenna Ohio. My parents had lived in that house pretty much after my father got out of the navy and married my mother. The house was situated near some small hills that seemed large to me at the time. I also remember the front living room having a very high ceiling, almost as if I was in a cathedral. In reality, the ceiling in the living room wasn't that high, but because I was only 2 or 3 years old, it seemed huge at the time.
The very earliest memory I can think of would be playing with my red wagon on the small hill next to the house I lived in. The reason I remember this is that at the time, my red wagon was broken and my father had fixed it. After he fixed it, I didn't recall having a red wagon until he showed it to me and said that he had finished fixing it. I then vaguely remembered riding the red wagon on the hill next to the house. It was my father reminding me that I had a red wagon that enabled me to start remembering past events. This is why I consider this event important because it was the beginning of my ability, limited as it is, to remember the past.
About two houses down, there lived two girls named Kelly and "Kindy" (actually Cindy but at the time I pronounced her name with a K). For whatever reason, I liked these two girls and I was always trying to impress them.
After my father had finished fixing the red wagon I decided to ride it down the hill next to where Kelly and Cindy lived. The hill had a sidewalk and was bigger than the hill next to my house so I could ride the wagon faster and really impress Kelly and Cindy. After starting down the hill, Kelly and Cindy ran out yelling, "Brian, please stop! You are making too much noise!"
I also remember one day going to Kelly and Cindy's house when they had a few friends over. I got into some sort of minor argument with one of her friends and she ended up poking me in the eye with a stick. I had to wear a patch on my eye for 24 hours but my eye was able to heal.
One memory I have of Kelly and Cindy I can date to when I was three years old was the first time I heard Green Tangerine by the Lemon Pipers. I heard it being played on the radio for the first time and it impressed me. So I ran to Kelly and Cindy's house to tell them about it. I told Kelly, "You are my Green Tamborine" and she responded with, "Thank you Brian". Since this song came out in 1968, and the weather was somewhat warm, this event probably occured in the early spring of 1968.
Also during this time, my mother would go bowling in a bowling alley towards Kent. She would go taking a girl along (I forget her name). On the road leading to the bowling alley there was a bridge that went over some railroad tracks. Occasionally, I would hear a train whisle and not know where it was coming from. I had a few dreams where I was riding in the car down that road and hear a train whistle. Then I would see the train coming right at the car. Just before the train could collide in a head on collision with the car, it would appear beside the car and I watched the train go by.
It wasn't until much later (during the second Mantua period) that I fiqured out that there was a railroad that went under the road. So I think that the significance of this dream was that my young mind was trying to make sense of a sound that I didn't know where it was coming from.
I also had other significant dreams during this time. In one dream I was in my crib, and the crib began to roll across the floor. It eventually rolled out of the house and down the street. It rolled through the town of Ravenna and was eventually going to go down the hill next to the Catholic church on route 59. Because this seemed like a big hill, I was scared and right after this I woke up.
I also remember a dream where I walked into the bathroom and Alan was brushing his teeth. Everyone else was getting ready for something and I asked him what was happening. He said that we were going on a trip. Later, in the dream we passed by a billboard in the car. This event also occured in reality. It could either be a premonition dream, or a dream that I had after the actual event.
I also got into a bit of the normal sort of trouble a 2 or 3 year old would get in to. For example, there was an old man who lived next door to the house. I noticed one day that the mail man would deliver the mail through a slot on his door which was guarded by a smaller door inside the slot. This door would make a small metalic slamming sound after the mail was delivered. So I would go next door to slam the smaller door to fool the next door neighbor into thinking he got mail. I was able to fool him maybe one or two times but afterwards, he would simply yell at me.
