Too Little for Disneyland

My name is Courtney McPhie Mangum. McPhie is my maiden name-- I am entirely too proud of my Scottish heritage, so don't expect me to introduce myself without it. I am from Colorado-- about 20 minutes south of Denver in a little suburb called Greenwood Village. I was born in Seattle and also had a short stint in London. Other than that, I am a Rocky Mountain gal through and through. I have three sisters and a brother, an aversion to animals, and a tendency to talk in a shrill witch voice when I am excited. I recently bought my first pair of white socks. I am addicted to the Food Network and love to try new recipes. I couldn't bake a good batch of cookies if my life depended on it, though I am the resident McPhie family curry expert. I have been married to Sam for 14 months. He thinks my green Thai curry is the best.

My first memory is from when I was about 2 and my parents carted us off to SoCal for the requisite childhood Disney experience. Before departing, I stood at the top of the stairs while my mom asked if I wanted to bring the California Raisins beach towel or the beach towel with the boats in a sunset on it. I assume I chose the California Rasins. I have few memories of actually being in Disneyland, but the most vivid are waiting at the Dumbo and the Teacup rides, feeling sad because I was too little to go on the rides. Since I am towards the end of the sibling line, I am very familiar with how it feels to be left out of big-kid activities. I can still feel the hot sun and the seat of the stroller as I bemoaned my "too-little" fate. I think I've moved on though. I've been back to Disneyland, and I rode the teacups and the Dumbo ride. They are pretty cool rides.

No matter how much I remember not riding the teacups, photographs prove to be indisputable evidence: there are pictures of me riding the teacups when I was 2. "Memory is very vulnerable and malleable. People are not always aware of the choices they make" (Pickrell). I am very aware of feeling left out, and since being left out at Disneyland would seem plausible to me, I created the memory for myself.

Rachel Leetham

Katherine Fisher

Kjerstin Evans