A few weeks ago, Chemmy sent around an email with the subject line Narratives. Before I opened it, I presumed it would be a funny story about one more sports writer filing platitudes about heart, grit and other various intangibles.

I was wrong.

Chemmy's email was a request for a few of us to submit our favourite Leafs memory. A piece that would help us all take a step back from the ups and downs of the Leafs' season and remember how or why we became Leafs fans in the first place.

I can't remember a time when I wasn't a Leafs fan. I recall wearing Leafs gear to kindergarten, which would have been around 1975 or 76. I remember my first Leafs game against the Sabres in 1977. I was barely six years old and already I was a die hard.

Both of my kids are now older than I was that long ago day in '77 and neither one of them pays any attention to the Leafs. They are so disinterested in hockey, I couldn't even call them casual fans. The boy loves soccer, skateboarding and his bike. My daughter is all about her brownie troupe, disappearing into a book (it was Harry Potter, now it's Perseus Jackson) and learning to cook.

I thought I'd ask them to write a story about what it's like to live with a dad who's a bit Leafs obsessed. The boy said no way, but my daughter was gung-ho. After the jump, her story...

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Welcome to a new feature we're trying out here. You've noticed the name of it, "Building the Narrative", by now. This feature is going to be a place for us to share fond memories of the Leafs or things tangentially related to the team, something we hope is either funny or poignant but not always either. Got something you'd like to fill this space with? You know how to reach us.

I wasn't very tall growing up. In 1994 I was in fourth grade just outside of Hartford, CT and was the shortest kid in my grade by six inches easy. My parents both worked at the time and so after school I went to daycare until they could pick me up.

Those of you who've frequented the site or even better played hockey with me will likely guess (correctly) that I got into more than my fair share of trouble as a kid. Being stuck somewhere with nothing to do was always a good time to get into mischief.

I don't remember the day anymore and I don't remember the kid who did it. He might have been tall or short, fat or skinny, I don't know. What I remember is that I was playing Blades of Steel on my original grey brick Game Boy wearing the only Toronto Maple Leafs memorabilia I owned: a ratty old Leafs baseball hat.

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