So many… My both worst AND best memory was having my tonsils out when I was 6. I am sure to this day that I was not fully asleep during the surgery, as I vividly recall feeling sharp pain BEFORE I was back in my room. I also woke up from the surgery a full hour before they expected me to. My parents were not even there, because they had been told to go get something to eat, once they knew I was out of surgery, that it would be an hour or two before I was conscious. They were mistaken. But on the plus side, My uncle came by with a “little dixie cup” for me (read: half a gallon of ice cream). 🙂
My first “best memory” was being a 2nd grader at Crown heights Yeshivah, and saying the Mah Nishtana in Yiddish for my teacher and having him smile broadly and give me a box of dominoes for a prize. He was a tough cookie most of the time, but he always liked me. My second “best memory” was being chosen to represent the school in the Chidon Tanach in Manhattan, when I was much older. I didn’t win, but I had a wonderful time.
My worst school memory was when graduating from junior high (not Crown Heights, as we had moved to another neighborhood)and I was told by my teacher that I was selected by the faculty to be the Class Valedictorian. Then, all of a sudden, the daughter of a choshuveh rabbi affiliated with the yeshivah was announced as having been “picked out of a hat” (supposedly my name, hers, and one other student’s were put in the hat) and she won the Valedictory award. My teacher took me aside and felt compelled to apologize to me, because he was shocked that it ended happening this way, as the teachers had already made their decision and notified my parents. In retrospect, though I felt bad and was not even made Salutatorian, I guess I am pretty lucky if that is my worst memory. Other kids lost a parent or became ill, lo aleinu. On balance, life is pretty good to me.