Life
Early Childhood Years
I was born on September 30th, 1991, two years after my older brother. My father is a mechanical engineer who spent most of his career with energy companies. My mother trained as a biochemist and set her career aside to raise us. Like a lot of professionals of their generation, my parents went where the work was, which meant living abroad for a while before we settled in Canada.
What I Actually Remember
My memories from this period are fragments more than stories. I remember going to a school that served an international community. There was a teacher there who was kind to me and would help me find the bus. The feeling of safety around her is oddly clear in my memory, even though almost everything else about that school has faded.
I also remember something like a talent show. Music, bright colors, a lot of excitement. That's about all I can recover from it.
Everything from that time is hazy, which seems fair — I was 3.5 when we moved to Canada, my older brother was 5.5, and my younger brother wasn't born yet. My parents made the move for the usual reasons: better opportunities, better schools for their kids.
My First Teacher
My father worked for a company near the coast. During the day, my mother taught my older brother and me the alphabet, how to read, and some simple math. She was my first real teacher. Looking back, I can see her scientific training in those lessons — there was a structure to them, even if I didn't notice it at the time.
We studied indoors during the day, partly because my mother was serious about our learning and partly because the heat didn't leave much choice.
Evenings
When the sun started to set, we'd finish our books and run outside to play. There were pools nearby, and you could see the sea in the distance. After a whole day inside, that release was the best part of the day.
I sometimes think that rhythm — work first, then play — got wired into me early. Or maybe that's just me looking back and finding patterns where there aren't any.
We moved to Toronto when I was 3.5. I don't remember much of what came before, but whatever we carried over from those first years came with us.