Friday, April 03, 2009

Remembering Childhood

All the talk about the free-falling American car industry made me want to read Made In Detroit, a childhood memoir by Paul Clemens. It focuses on Detroit, a city that used to symbolize America's once triumphant industry, where dreams were manufactured as they still are in Hollywood, before becoming a wasteland.

The book cover features a picture of the author as a child, playing in a little kid car. This made me wonder what photograph I would choose for a cover if I were to write a memoir of my childhood. Of course, I'd want it to be a picture that reflected my family's nomadic lifestyle, as well as the bliss of childhood - I was one happy little girl!





Maybe a pic of me looking up at Artigas, the hero of Uruguay - the country where my grandparents are from...
Or a photograph of a radiant little me in Kenya, where we were then living...
Or a snapshot of me as a pompom girl, vacationing in Maine, in a t-shirt from Kenya...
Or a photograph of my dear sister and me, in front of Iraq's Samara Tower, a typical destination for our Friday picnics when we were living in Iraq?...
Or a pic of me putting on my roller skates in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower in the background?

35 comments:

Laura in Paris said...

What a representative selection of pictures!

Fifi Flowers said...

I think your memoirs would be very interesting and any of those would be grand... Let me know when the book is out and if you will be doing any signings... Would love to cone meet you!

Debra said...

What a sweet post. Of course I would go for the "Pom-Pom Girl in Maine". Have a nice weekend.

Seeker said...

What a lovely post You were a cute and adorable girl.

Have a nice weekend

xoxo

LenoreNeverM♡re said...

You are so blessed to have walked the different places on this magnificent planet earth...I wish I've kept my pom-pom*

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Difficult choice, though I am partial to the one of you on the Rhino, I guess of these it is between the small pinkness of you and Artigas or you and your sister looking quite at home in front of the Samara Tower. OF course it all depends on the tenor of the book....Probably Benjy needs to be on the back cover or inside flap and......

Rebecca said...

It's so neat that you have all those pictures of yourself at such a young age in all those places! Most people don't make those rounds in a whole lifetime. :)

Anonymous said...

Oh marie-laure...i think it would be absolutey marvelous i you wrote a book about your lie and where you have lived and the experiences you have had...you truly are a citizen of the world...and that is precious!

xxnancy

Anonymous said...

ps....sorry just saw all my typos...i have to blame it on my keyboard and me not re-reading what i wrote....

so it is IF and LIFE....(no lapus was intended...)

nancy ooops!!

Mary-Laure said...

FIFI - thanks for the encouragement! Actually, I am NOT writing a memoir but I might on day... The readers of AUREA will be the first to know!

LENORENEVERMORE - yes, there are so many beautiful places and cultures around the world, and it's a real blessing to have visited to many places at a young age.

D. MOLL - HA! Yes, Benjy would totally need to be pictured somehow!

REBECCA - yes, it's very fortunate that my mum was always taking pics and that she saved them all.

NANCY - the typos: maybe Steevy playing with the keyboard??

Ria said...

I love the pic of you in Paris. I used to own a pair of yellow and blue sneaker skates. I miss the old school roller skates. Brake at your own risk. They don't them like that anymore.

Spangler Cummings said...

Love seeing more about what created the wonderful you! Doesn't Proust say we all have one story in us...ours?

Mary-Laure said...

RIA - I miss those roller skates too; I never got used to roller blades.

SPANGLER - I wasn't familiar with that wonderful quote by Proust, an author I admire very much.

gracia said...

There is something lovely and touching about seeing the family photos of others... something universally familiar and yet not. This collection is beautiful... thanks for sharing.

Iñaki said...

Sooooo cute! ... and stylish!

xx

Mary-Laure said...

GRACIA - I like what you wrote; it's true that when I see other people's childhood pics they feel somewhat familiar, perhaps because of the happiness and energy that kids exude?

INAKI - well, what can I say, I always liked clothes....

limonana said...

all incredible photos! what memories you have!

Blue Muse said...

I'd love to read a book on your world-citizen life! Your photos are wonderful, I love them all. What a full and interesting life!
xo Isa

Taocito said...

So cutooooooo

Joyce said...

The photos of you are wonderful! I love the one putting your skates on. Enjoy!

Kira Aderne said...

Love!!!
Really cute :)))

jean-louis said...

Avec toutes ces photos tu me fais revenir en arriere de quelques annees! Je suis passe le mois dernier a cet endroit, devant Artigas, ou a ete prise la premiere photo que j aime beaucoup; malheureusement, tu n'etais pas la....

Kwana said...

What a great post and pictures. This really gets me thinking.

Jaimee McClellan said...

Great photos...thanks for sharing.
I think I had the same roller skates too :)

Anonymous said...

I would put them all on the cover if I where you! ;)

Laura Neulat said...

I love all the pictures, of course! The one with the Samara mosque in the back was our 1984 or 1985 Christmas Greetings ... so far away, and yet, as if it were yesterday ...
We had such a good time in Baghdad, didn't we?

Anonymous said...

Wow ....my childhood seems kinda lame compared to yours!lol!!!

I love that second picture ...everything about it just glows!

Alya said...

I love childhood photos! They're so natural and capture amazing moments!

You know, I really have to dig around for my own childhood photos.

Mary-Laure said...

LAURA - yes, you made our childhood magical.

ALYA - you should find those pics, don't let your childhood memories get lost...

Unknown said...

Me encantan las fotos de tu infancia!!!

lune_blanc said...

Thank you for posting and sharing your beautiful childhood photos, I especially love the one of you and your sister in Iraq.

Miss | A said...

great blog!

Jo said...

wonderful photos mary-laure!!! i simply adore the one of the Samara Tower!

blue moss said...

how great are these pictures...
i love them.
thanks for sharing

Te said...

Great photos! What a cute kid you were, and I love the faded quality of the images. I love looking at old photos of myself and my parents and getting all nostalgic.