What is the earliest real memory you have?

[ChrisC]

Inspired by another topic, was is the earliest thing you can remember?

 

I remember being pushed in a pushchair and singing to myself, then suddenly stopping because I had become aware of what I was doing and embarrassed. I must have been two.

Even earlier is a flashback of trying  to find my way through some long grass that I couldn't see over outside where we were living. I must have been one because we had moved before I was two.

 

Extra points for theocratic memories!

 

(Maybe this will be a really boring thread, idk.)

[Qapla]

The earliest thing I can remember was a phone ringing and my brother and my sister trying to figure out if it was the upstairs or the downstairs phone that was ringing. By the time they determined that it was both, the phone had quit ringing.

 

This had to be when I was two or before because we only lived in a two story house when I was that young.

 

That is also the only thing I can remember from that house.

Edited January 30, 2016 by Qapla

[ronjon]

It was a beautiful summers day and I was playing in the garden in my Police peddle car and the Postman came and left the gate ajar.

 

So I peddled all the way to a main road and was swiftly stopped and picked up by a Policeman, I was 30 months old.

 

My Dad was a painter and decorator and one day I thought I would help the elderly couple across the road,so I got some paint and a brush from the shed and painted there front door.

 

Dad wasn't very pleased when he came home from work and had to start again repairing my mess, I was 4 years old.

[rocket]

The earliest I remember is one year old when a nurse broke a needle off in my butt. I also remember the cold guardrails on the bed.

[Dustparticle]

The earliest memory I have is that I don't remember it.

[Miss Mouse]

What a GREAT topic because I often think about this ......do I actually remember or is the memory triggered by a smell ,  ( cooking, flowers, damp earth) or is the memory really as it seems.  There is a lot of interesting  thoughts how a certain time of year may provoke an emotion  or memory due to the fact  that date an event happened. ( death of loved one, illness, abandonment ) .......

apparently when I was born my little brother was jealous he was 7 mom caught him taking me to the creek , he told mom he was going to throw me in the creek. I have no memory of that. I ( Thankfully LOL) 

 

I have vivid memories of  mom being mad at my dad about 4 years old .  I also have a very vivid memory ( traumatic) of being left in a Catholic Hospital  age 4 , I had rheumatic fever. We lived many miles away in a small mining town and my parents could only come on the weekends . Nunns were mean as I vividly recall. 

 

My husband says his first memory is his dad taking away his favorite wool blanket yellow and black. 

 

[Lance]

For me ..  Vividly  from 3 and on .. Falling out of bed .. Cutting my eyebrow open..picking trilliums and my brothers telling me the police will arrest me for it. 

Getting drunk at 4 .. Got into my Dads sweet Australian port .. My mom thought I had polio until she saw the empty bottle .. And I threw up .. Cured my desire to imbibe too much.. Tons of things from that time on .. 

Edited January 30, 2016 by Lance

[tekmantwo]

This is a fun topic,  my brother , sister and I were talking about something today and I thought of this.

I can remember grammas house, in Brisbane CA, (near San Francisco ) and I remember the crystal door knobs in the downstairs rooms.  I  recall them being just out of reach. Don't know how old I was at the time, but after seeing them during later visits realized they were at normal door knob height. 

My sister remembered how you could go into the upstairs bathroom and stand on tippy toes on the toilet and look out the little window and see Candlestick Park.  The last time I was there,  I had to be careful not to hit my head on the ceiling in there...

[Hope]

Getting lost at the Chicago Auto Show when I was three.  

 

I've loved car shows ever since! 

[Tortuga]

2 hours ago, rocket said:

The earliest I remember is one year old when a nurse broke a needle off in my butt. I also remember the cold guardrails on the bed.

Too much lead?

[Good-O]

I must have been 3 or 4 yo, remember my two older sisters taking me to the hospital to see mamma who had had her leg veins stripped.  She was pregnant w/my little brother and no one knew that at the time, nor did she.  Next memory is attending an assembly under a tent close to Liberty, Texas.  Most FUN memories was going to seldom worked territory, all piled into the car, stopping for lunch and playing in a creek and then a WT study in the area.  Really miss those times!!  Mamma would make chicken salad sandwiches the night before, put them in the freezer over night and at lunch there was always a tiny frozen spot - ate it anyway!!  Good times and memories!  Those were the days you did not take a break until lunch.  

 

[carlos]

Memories are tricky. I think my oldest memory is of me leaning over a cradle to see my newborn sister and the cradle falling over. But my parents say I cannot remember that because I was just a bit over one year old at the time, so probably I just made up that memory from what they told me. It's easy to imagine or dream something and then cofuse it with a true memory.

 

Fortunately my sister was not hurt.

[NSSewer]

For me there are two: the first earliest memory I have is when my Mom dressed me in both a pair of pants and a dress. At four -years old I protested because could not understand why she was dressing me with both when only one should be worn at a time. It was winter time and she wanted me to stay warm.

The other memory is where a firefighter carried me down the stairs from our house fire. I remember the noise and the smells and all the action. I also very vividly remember his soothing words and physical vibrations from the bounce of each step as he descended away from the smoke. Of course to this day I think firefighters are the bravest men and women. And those suit are BOSS!

[Áine]

I remember my mother breast feeding me (seriously) don't ask me why !! I just remember the feeling and staring up into her face. ..she says that I always stared like that which is kind off creepy I think. ..apart from that I don't have any more real memories until I was about 2 when my brother was born. .I also remember my grandad coming home from work smelling off tomatoes,  he worked in a large nursery... I also remember him pulling rabbits out from inside his coat after he had been poaching!!

Edited January 30, 2016 by anniebea

[DLM]

My first memory is when  I was three yo my brother was born.  My dad took me to see my mom in the hospital. I remember him holding me  and there in her arms was a baby.  I cried  and cried because I got "evicted" from her arms but I still had my "good old dad" and I hung on to him like a leech!  During this time, I had to go stay with my aunt. To go to the toilet, we had to go to a SMELLY outhouse, which I hated.  She had some older kids and when they would take me out before going to bed it would be dark. On the way there they would tell me the turkey gobbler or the Big goose was going to get me. I was petrified and they would run back to the house leaving me alone. I became soooo scared of the dark that to this day, I don't like it.  Years later, we lived on a ranch in the mountains of Colorado, and once again, I had to "walk the path" in the dark--- by myself---- While I'm sitting there I heard the most godawful scream. If you have ever heard a mountain lion scream, it is a sound you will never forget!!!! I jumped up and I'm sure my feet never hit the ground 'til I got to the house so that reinforced my fear of the dark!!   

Edited January 30, 2016 by Agent MOM
Added info

[Pjdriver]

I have a vague memory of being proud to wear rubber underwear instead of diapers.  Maybe 2 years old?

Then at 3 years old I have more vivid memories of having a large kettle of boiling water spilled all over me. I recall the ride to the hospital and even a dream I had in the hospital....Santa coming down the chimney into the fire. 

my mother had just started studying (late 50s) and I recall a couple sisters come to see me in the hospital.

Edited January 30, 2016 by Pjdriver

[waccamacca]

My earliest memory was when the doctor spanked me at my birth. 

[waccamacca]

My earliest memory was when the doctor spanked me at my birth. 

I was just joking. Actually I remember my parents taking a photo on a grey couch. I was 15 months old according to the back of the photo. 

[Pjdriver]

1 hour ago, waccamacca said:

My earliest memory was when the doctor spanked me at my birth. 

When I was born....the doctor took one look at me, then turned around and slapped my father. 

[ChrisC]

8 hours ago, Pjdriver said:

I have a vague memory of being proud to wear rubber underwear instead of diapers.  Maybe 2 years old?

Then at 3 years old I have more vivid memories of having a large kettle of boiling water spilled all over me. I recall the ride to the hospital and even a dream I had in the hospital....Santa coming down the chimney into the fire. 

my mother had just started studying (late 50s) and I recall a couple sisters come to see me in the hospital.

 

Wait a horrible thing to happen to anyone, but to a toddler ...... 

[Iksplorer]

My earliest memory is of sitting in the backseat of our car behind my mom, who was holding my younger sister on her lap.  My older sister was next to me and my dad was driving.  My little sister had a cast on her foot.   I didn't know how old I was at the time until I asked my mom how old my sister was when she had that cast.  Turns out that she was born with her foot turned inward and the cast was put on her right after she was born.  I had just turned two the month before she was born.

[Witness1970]

21 hours ago, carlos said:

Memories are tricky. I think my oldest memory is of me leaning over a cradle to see my newborn sister and the cradle falling over. But my parents say I cannot remember that because I was just a bit over one year old at the time, so probably I just made up that memory from what they told me. It's easy to imagine or dream something and then cofuse it with a true memory.

 

Fortunately my sister was not hurt.

3

It is also possible to form a memory when we are told a story.  As we visualize things we form a memory that makes us believe that it was a true memory.

On one occasion, my family was at Six Flags over Georgia.  My wife rode with our daughter on the Great Gasp, and I rode with our son.  When the ride dropped suddenly, my son raised his right leg up and looked as if he were going to step right out of the ride.  I grabbed him and held him.  My wife and daughter were below us and could not see but I told her about it.  Years later she commented about how scared she was when she saw that.  Obviously, she had visualized it and formed a memory in her mind and thought it was an actual memory. 

 

I have heard that it is possible for that to happen to anyone.  Of course, it has never happened to me.

[Pjdriver]

30 minutes ago, Witness1970 said:

It is also possible to form a memory when we are told a story.  As we visualize things we form a memory that makes us believe that it was a true memory.

On one occasion, my family was at Six Flags over Georgia.  My wife rode with our daughter on the Great Gasp, and I rode with our son.  When the ride dropped suddenly, my son raised his right leg up and looked as if he were going to step right out of the ride.  I grabbed him and held him.  My wife and daughter were below us and could not see but I told her about it.  Years later she commented about how scared she was when she saw that.  Obviously, she had visualized it and formed a memory in her mind and thought it was an actual memory. 

 

I have heard that it is possible for that to happen to anyone.  Of course, it has never happened to me.

 

Randall, I appreciate your comment. I've always felt that was true in many cases. I know of  three different women that were having emotional difficulties and went to see a shrink. The shrink digging into there background convinced them them they were molested as children, even though none had any memory of being moloested. That didn't stop them from assigning blame to certain ones with no real evidence other than a feeling. After going to that shrink for a while one of them said they started to have a vague memory. This idea of repressed memories is now being questioned and rejected by many leading  therapist around the world.

The power of suggestion can be very strong. This is why witnesses in a court case can be very unreliable. Lawyers and others in authorities have been know persuade some that they actually recall things they really don't.

We can see how dangerous that could be for innocent people.

 

Edited January 31, 2016 by Pjdriver

[Witness1970]

35 minutes ago, Witness1970 said:

It is also possible to form a memory when we are told a story.  As we visualize things we form a memory that makes us believe that it was a true memory.

On one occasion, my family was at Six Flags over Georgia.  My wife rode with our daughter on the Great Gasp, and I rode with our son.  When the ride dropped suddenly, my son raised his right leg up and looked as if he were going to step right out of the ride.  I grabbed him and held him.  My wife and daughter were below us and could not see but I told her about it.  Years later she commented about how scared she was when she saw that.  Obviously, she had visualized it and formed a memory in her mind and thought it was an actual memory. 

 

I have heard that it is possible for that to happen to anyone.  Of course, it has never happened to me.

That last line was supposed to be humorous.  I hope it came across that way.  No one actually knows when they have a formed memory because the memory seems so real to them.

[Brother_Bliss]

Obviously this topic is meant to be light, fluffy, or even cute, so...

 

My earliest memory is when I was 2. I still regularly used a pacifier. I had a few teeth now and had bit a hole in the pacifier and would dip it in my dad's coffee and then suck the coffee out of the pacifier.

 

One day, I noticed Dad was eating Oreo cookies, and I went over to him and asked for one. He said that he would only give me a cookie if I threw my pacifier in the trash can. So, I toddled off to the kitchen, and tossed my binky. In my memory, this can was huge, lol (because I was small). I returned to the living room and ate cookies with my Dad.

 

However, when I was done, I went back to the kitchen, and knocked over the trash can, and started rummaging through the wrappers, coffee grinds, etc, in search of my pacifier. My mother comes around the corner and almost has a panic attack because I have spread trash across the entire kitchen floor. Turns out, she knew I would want that binky back, so she had snatched it out of the trash seconds after I tossed it in there, rinsed it off, and placed it on the counter.