When I was born, it was 1955. I had a double cleft palette and a hair lip. I know my first surgeries happened around 2 months of age. They got my front two teeth and gum off the end of my nose and back into my mouth. Like most cleft palettes, I never "nursed" on a bottle. I was fed with a spoon. My plastic surgeon was Dr. McCumber in Denver Colorado and I had my early operations at Children's Hospital in Denver. I still remember the smell of ether, the green color of the tiles on the walls, the net over the top of the crib (I liked to climb out when I got older) and the pieces of yard sticks that were used as splits to keep my hands away from my face where the stitches were. I know back then, parents were not allowed to visit children in the hospital so nurses and doctors were the people that were helping to form my early memories. Then, like now, when I look out from my eyes, I don't see anything wrong. I don't think I sound different than other people either, unless I hear myself on a recording. We moved to Colorado Springs when I was about 3 months old, so when I had surgeries, we stayed at my Grandparents house in Denver. I don't remember any friends before I started school, but that might just be cause I'm older now. I will say now, my parents did everything they could to make sure I was physically fine. In the 50's there wasn't much attention payed to the mental part of a person.