My first memory is from aged 1 – and I remember everything since
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Sitting on the sledge, I watched helplessly as the rope slipped out of my mum’s gloved hands over and over again. It was December and a blizzard had made it impossible to drive to the shops. So mum had decided to drag me there – literally. The snow was so thick though that it quickly became clear she didn’t have the strength to pull me through it. That’s when I started to feel scared.
As the biting cold moved through my body, I felt sure I was about to freeze to death, which is odd considering, at the time, I was only two and had no concept of what that actually meant. Yes, I remember that day as clearly as if it happened yesterday. I remember the relief I felt when we eventually made it to the shop, and also the shopkeeper trying to calm me down as I screamed from the pain of the cold.
I can recall it all even though it happened over 37 years ago. To me, remembering things from as early as the age of one was always totally normal. It was only after I had my son in 2021 that I learned it is decidedly not. And truthfully, it has changed the way I parent.
I had always been told that I had a good memory. At school it made exams based on memorising facts less stressful and helped me form solid friendships as I remembered so much about them. As I got older, those same friends started referring to me as a ‘human Google’ as I was able to recall a person or place they’d long forgotten. Even people I barely knew would comment on my ability to recall inconsequential details about their lives.