You know how every child has their own special thing that makes them stand out from their siblings? And even if that child really thinks there is nothing that spectacular about them, you can still seem to remember those talents years later into adulthood.
Such as my most memorable childhood talents: headaches and random bloody noses
Like when my parents bought one of those cool above ground pools that was just big enough to have a filter. We wanted to capture our first time swimming for future generations to adore, so my dad set up the video camera on the tripod and planned on recording the entire fun-filled event (because we really needed ALL 45 minutes of us bobbing around in a pool.)
But only after a few minutes of pool-time my awesome childhood talent kicked in and my nose started gushing. And really, it would gush. And when you're in a pool what is there to really catch that with? So my mom latched her fingers onto my nose and pinched, and with a combined effort we both got out of the pool on the little rickety ladder that was really only made to hold one (small) person.
And the best part is, it's all on tape. I'm sure that helps with the memorable part of the talent, but I was particularly good at having bloody noses so there are quite a few non-recorded moments that we all cherish.
And the headaches - I was good at those too. I think the one easiest to recall was my very first migraine, because anyone who gets migraines know how wonderful they can be.
I went to the temple to do Baptisms for the Dead with the YM/YW of my ward (we were in Utah, there was a lot of us.) On the ride back, I was crammed in the backseat of a car with some of my friends, and I started to feel...weird. But then the weirdness turned into upset stomachness, and things got more interesting.
We were on the freeway when I first announced that I was going to spew. And of course, I waited until the last possible moment to mention that I was feeling sick. So my YW leader was desperately trying to find a way to change lanes and pull to the side of the road. But - TOO LATE - I started puking and caught it all in the lap of my skirt (which was really my sister's skirt that I had borrowed without asking, which made it all the more wonderful.) By the time we made it home my head was about to explode - which explained the weirdness and barfing.
From that point on I couldn't sit through an entire day of Church without someone somehow working in a "tossing your cookies" joke.
I think everyone has a childhood talent like that. The kind of talent where your mom can say, "Oh yeah...I remember that," with only a slight grimace. Because when it comes down to it, we are ALL special in our own weird ways.
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