15 NJM 2020 in MoMoMo

15: At what age do you remember learning about mortality?

I read this before and I had to really think about it.

I remember I was REALLY young.

There is a picture of me in a pull-up and a Gerber t-shirt. I’m standing against a wall, looking over my right shoulder, like I’m waiting for someone to come down the hallway.

I vaguely remember this. Someone was chasing me up and down the hallway and according to my mom, I was all giggle wfgwgggs and delight. Apparently, she pulled me over and asked me who I was running from. I told her there was a lady in a flower dress that was tickling me. I remember my mom having a panicked look on her face as she picked me up. I didn’t understand what panic was, but I knew the look on her face wasn’t a good one.

She told me later she thought that someone had gotten into the house, but when there was no one around, she asked me to describe the lady.

I saw her go into a room and she brought a picture out. She asked if that was the lady and I laughed, told her that I was gonna go find her. Then my mom told me she was a spirit because she died.

I didn’t understand “dead” until she told me “it’s a forever sleep”.

I was advanced all my life, crawling before I was 6 months, walking by 8 months, and so on. By the time I went to preschool, I was bored. I went to Kindergarten, I already knew everything.

So, learning about abstract concepts wasn’t a huge deal for my parents, they knew I’d get it and think about it on my own.