My Memory Bank

I have always had far more specific recall of my younger years than many others seem to have. Memories of my years up to the age of 11 are, by their very nature, somewhat episodic, but I definitely recall a number of incidents that others don’t and in detail that others can’t match. Often I will be thinking about a completely unrelated experience then I will have a memory about the person, place or time that I have recalled.

What has always intrigued me about my memories are their very specific nature. For example, I was in Australia for a few weeks as a five year old. Do I remember the sights and sounds, or the people I met? No, I remember being in a hotel in Perth watching a Fantastic Four cartoon! Why do I remember that? I think it’s because I was with other children in the TV lounge, and only ever saw that particular cartoon there. I know from pictures from that time that I saw many things in Australia that a five year old would have been fascinated by but none of those memories stuck. We came back from Australia on the S.S. Australis and I do remember specific incidents like a visit to Fiji, a trip through the Panama Canal and a stop in Acapulco. There would have been many other experiences that would have counted as amazing, but they never stuck.

Often when I used to talk to people about events in my childhood that they were present for they would look at me blankly. I know that they would have some memories of those occasions but they tended to be much hazier. What is interesting to me is that they didn’t tend to question my recall as my memory bank tended to be something that people marvelled at. I can’t say that my recall will be faultless but it will be right in the general and often right in the specifics.

I often remember bad things that I wish I didn’t but I take the rough with the smooth because I can regularly relive some memories that give me warmth and happiness.