My fondest childhood memories include toys.
I had a boy-doll named Rocky. Later I had a James Bond 007 spy attaché case with secret compartments and a gun that could be assembled into a pistol or a rifle. Both versions had a scope.
First memory:
The original Morrison farm, situated on a dirt road in Bradford, Maine, burned to the ground before I was in first grade. (Mom was a Morrison.) The only memory I have of the farm includes a toy.
I remember playing with my fire engine in the sloped hallway between the kitchen and the front room. I was probably two or three. The slope was useful.
Later memories:
I had a Lost in Space set with a battery powered chariot that ran on a course I configured with my imagination. I wanted to be Will Robinson (Bill Mumy).
I turned thirteen the year Neil Armstrong walked on the moon (July 21, 1969). I still remember the grainy pictures and hearing Commander Armstrong say, “One small step…,” punctuated with beeps. I built models of the Apollo space craft and the lunar lander. Before Apollo, I built the Mercury and Gemini spacecraft.
Sometime in my early teens I used my Chemistry set to create an explosion that shook our house. There were no injuries or fatalities, just fear that I was going to ‘get it’. I didn’t.
I’ll never forget my raspberry red five speed Western Auto Buzz Bike with a banana seat, high-rise handlebars, and gear shift. (This image is the right model, but the wrong color.) I bought it with my own money at Western Auto.
4 questions to connect using toy stories:
- What was your favorite toy when you were a kid?
- What was it about that toy that you enjoyed so much?
- What did that toy enable you to do?
- Who did that toy allow you to become?
Skillful leaders connect with people.
What was your favorite toy when you were a kid?
How do leaders connect?
Note: My childish exuberance allowed me to exceed 300 words. I apologize.