My Earliest Memory - MFRW 52 Week Blog Challenge

I decided to enter this Blog Challenge http://mfrw52week.blogspot.com because it is writing-related and will require me to create a new blog every week, each with a pre-determined subject. Recently, I've found I need this extra push to get more blogs written.

Kenmore Inn (located near Kenmore) ©Mary Montague Sikes

This week's subject is my earliest memory. It's a little hard to know for certain what my earliest memory is. After all, sometimes photographs in an old album will stir and revive memories (or what we believe are memories). Is it possible that sometimes the "memories" that come to us are merely our imaginations building a story? After all, writers are impossibly creative, aren't they?

Among my first memories are those from the grounds of Kenmore, the historic home of Fielding Lewis, brother-in-law to George Washington, that is located in Fredericksburg, Virginia. My mother was friends with the founders of the Kenmore Association and she loved being a volunteer at the old restored mansion. I was about four years old and Mother always took me with her. It was nice to visit the kitchen that was separate from the house. Wearing a stylish black hat and dark suit, Mother used the silver service to pour tea for visitors to go with the traditional gingerbread made there from a colonial recipe. Perhaps I was jealous of the attention she gave others, but to this day I dislike gingerbread.

Somewhere, I have a photograph of Mother serving tea, but I can't find it now. I, also, have photos taken by a professional photographer of Mother and me in colonial costumes, standing on the steps of Kenmore. He took of picture of me alone on the Kenmore grounds and made a large print of it for display in his downtown business window. I don't know what eventually happened to it. I suppose all those pictures helped the Kenmore memory live on for me.

Several months ago, we visited Fredericksburg for a college class reunion. I didn't get to Kenmore, but I did take photos of the nearby Kenmore Inn, a bed and breakfast and restaurant, that also holds many memories for me.

What about you? When were your first memories?

Returning to Mary Washington College

Brompton ©Mary Montague Sikes

So many memories followed me as I returned to Mary Washington College (now the University of Mary Washington) for homecoming. We lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia, location of the college, when I was growing up. Our home was on the other side of the block from Sunken Road where so many died during the Civil War. As you drive along it, that road still feels sad today.

Brompton, home of the president of the university, was known as Marye House during the Civil War and served as headquarters for Confederate General James Longstreet. It later was used by the Union Army as a hospital.

For the reunion, Brompton was a happier place. It was the lovely site of  the president's welcome reception on the lawn.

Willard Hall ©Mary Montague Sikes

Later that evening, I made a little talk to one of the reunion groups and reminiscenced about my first college room in Willard Hall. I had three roommates and all of them were horseback riders who took advantage of the riding program offered by the college. I wasn't a rider, but I loved listening to all their stories when they returned, dust-covered, to our room, Willard 313. This year, I longed to go inside the dormitory and check out our old room, but, sadly, it wasn't open to the public.

My talk was at Kenmore Inn, a location where my boyfriend (now husband) and I sometimes dined when he visited me at the college. The Inn is located not far from historic Kenmore, a place, as a child, I hurried past on the way to and from school. I feared the ghost of Fielding Lewis would suddenly appear, riding his white horse.

Kenmore Inn Entrance ©Mary Montague Sikes

 

Pathway to Brompton ©Mary Montague Sikes

Fredericksburg is a beautiful city, so full of history. The campus grounds of the University of Mary Washington are still beautiful. Those grounds attracted me to attend the college all those many years ago. Now, I love seeing them when I return.