Unfortunately, I have an unusual memory as well. I remember everything like it was 5 minutes ago and remember the times things happened but not exact dates like those people last night did. I remember conversations I had with my sister since the age of 3. I remember every wrong and every right done to me since then by family, friends, boyfriends. I remember every teacher of every grade, every friend. I do not do well with memorization from books in education but remember books read for pleasure and can quote them 25 years later. When flying, I remember passengers I flew to a destination and surprise them when they are headed home by telling them the seat they had, the drink they had and even what they were wearing when I saw them a week before. I remember every minute of the surprise party my parents gave me when I turned 5 and what songs were played. (They were into Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Karen Carpenter,)
It is good but bad. Like one of the people said last night, you remember every awful thing that happened to you like it was yesterday. And I do. The pain of illnesses and deaths of relatives and friends, being cheated on or lied to- it never fades. But, on the flip side, the wonderful moments and times in my life stay brand new as well.
I remember Barry Farber telling about his memory. Said he could remember when he walked standing up under the table and didn’t touch it. He couldn’t talk yet but he remembers it all very well. I can’t remember diddley!
Amazing.
How do you manage to stay quiet at, say, parties or reunions when people resurrect events that they don’t remember quite correctly?
“No it was fourteen seconds after eight a.m. and I recall a green Ford with a black poodle in the back seat passed us in front of the White Castle on Four-hundred-ninety-second street and....”
True but only if you bring them out of the closet of your mind...........We all vividly remember the bad things in our lives, those are engraved permanently but only surface when we think about them. It's not like they remain forefront of every thing we do or remember.
I can remember bad things that happened when I was in the army but only when I think about them. Primarily tho, when I reflect on my Army experiences, the memories that jump to the forefront are the good times I had........
I spent time over the years trying to find some of the guys who knew him in the Marines, and after 30 years I found the CO of the flight.
He remembered every second of that day, every name, every broken bone, ever bullet hole, every bullet fragment, every everything like it was happening live. Best of all he remembered my best friend exactly as I remembered him.
Gooey Gomez, a friend to many Freepers for many years, was on that flight.
That moment of contact still brings tears to my eyes in seconds ~ and that's going on right now.
This is both a good thing and a terrible burden.
You sound like a Twilight Zone episode.
Try more whiskey. Makes the painful memories go away. And, the other memories, whatever they were. Also, the less-dedicated family members...
That reminds me of a Bible verse:
I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.Also, have you ever heard of the akashic records?