First memories

What is your first memory? How far back can you remember? And what kind of memory is it?

Earlier this summer Scientific American ran a brief article about first memories and what type they are. Only about a quarter were dramatic or traumatic. Mine certainly weren’t.

Three years ago for NaBloPoMo I wrote different memories I have at each age. My first memory was when I was 2, which is apparently pretty young. I have a lot of memories from when I was 3. My early memories are family events, childhood antics, and sensory experiences.

As we watch Iddo it’s clear she remembers things from one day to the next, especially now that we have a routine down. She knows what comes next. She knows what Brett’s ring tone on my phone is. She remembers where things are and how to do things. We’re real curious what her first long-term memory will be.

When she’s 30 will she remember collecting rocks as she walks around the neighborhood? Will she remember going to check the mail with Dad? Will she remember falling down and hurting her nose? Will she remember the music she hears? What will her first memory be? The more we talk about the things she does the more likely she will be to form a firm memory of them. What do we talk most about in her life?

It’s hard to say what my first memory of her is. Is my first memory the shots I did? Is it the day we went to the doctor and they retrieved the egg that became her? (My memories of that are super hazy due to the anesthesia they used, I don’t remember getting my pants back on.) Is my first memory of her going back three days later and seeing the embryo that would become her? The first time we saw her on ultrasound or felt her move? I will never forget the first time I touched her head, the first time I looked on her face and held her in my arms. I wonder if there’s any bit of a memory of that day for her as well. I hope in some corner of her mind exists some remnant of what that was like for her.