My earliest childhood memory is being in a hospital.  My mother had gone away on a trip with one of her boyfriends.  I was with a sitter and ended up with a severe case of meloncoly, otherwise known as depression in children.  I ended up in the hospital for two and a half months.  The hospital would not release me to anyone except my mother. My grandmother tried to find my mother and finally just had to wait until Mom called her. When my mother came to pick me up I didn't know who she was. 

The nurses let me walk around during the day.  I remember wearing a diaper, and carrying a doll.  At night I was put in a crib that reminded me of a lion's cage.  The bed was painted white and had tall sides.  I cried most of the time.

Later in years when my Mom was being good we would go to church.  She would take me to the nursery. I wouldn't stay unless she left me one of her gloves.  I knew she would come back for her glove but I didn't know if she would come back for me.