One of my earliest memories was that of visiting my great-grandmother! For the life of me I do not even know for sure if this was my grandmother's mother or my grandfather's mother.. but I tend to think she was my grandmother's mother. She was confined to a wheelchair by the time I was born. I remember a day playing on the floor near the large wooden- high-backed wheel chair with grandmother sitting there looking stern with a white gown or day dress on. She had gray hair that was pulled up into a bun and I remember her reaching down and giving me red plastic coasters to play with. I do not know much about her except that I am pretty sure her name was Elizabeth Browning without the Barrett. I must have only been two or so when this took place but I can still see and feel the moment. We still lived in Rhode Island and there are several snatches of memory that go with this time period.
Another memory is of going to Little Compton in the summer to the ocean. I remember the little cottage we would rent and I remember the pattern of the linoleum floors that my mother would sweep each day to remove a layer of sand. I remember going to an eatery that was sort of outdoors. It served fish and chips and lobster and there were no tables, just counters the went all around the outside with stools that turned back and forth. We would make these treks to the beach with my "Aunt" Dot and my "cousin" Ricky. Dot was my mom's best friend and Ricky was Dot's son. I do not know why we called non-relatives by relative names back then but it seemed the thing to do. In the coming years there would be many more non-relatives I would call by relative names!
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