Childhood Memories?

[user 188522]

What is something you saw or experienced as a child that you will never forget?
My answer was getting my head stuck under a fence.

 

[Claudia1794]

My sister pulled me by my feet on the carpet through her room to the hall down the steps to the entry hall. My belly, chest, chin, and parts of my arms were raw from carpet burn. She was a wee bit mean but she made me learn to fight back.

 

[randomguy]

When I was 11, at the railway station on the way to my Nan's, I was so excited as it was the first time I'd been allowed to travel on the train alone.

There was this woman standing next to me, we were both , maybe 3 feet from the edge of the platform. As the train came in she moved forward and somehow I instinctively knew what she was thinking, I reached out to grab her but only managed to get her handbag off her shoulder, she stepped off the platform in front of the train and I was left standing there with her bag. I still, occasionally, wake up covered in sweat and sobbing from a nightmare about that morning.

 

[user 135067]

I still, occasionally, wake up covered in sweat and sobbing from a nightmare about that morning.

Sometimes I think trauma from watching is worse than a physical trauma.

My dad and I were hit head on. He died across my lap, me in a pool of his blood. I was 19. It never goes away. Fifty years later crash noises still give me a jump.

When I was five I was playing with three kids on my street. We each had bicycles. They wanted to go for a ride. I wanted to go, but with them being older, 6 and 7, they told me I was too young. They rode off. I went home.

The next morning they were in the news. I remember my parents talking about it. All three had been killed by a drunk driver. I recall something about them being dragged beneath the car. My mom later took me to the store. We passed the scene of the accident. There was a giant blood puddle on the side of the road. I knew what it was. My mind built the accident for me to watch them tumble under the car and pop out the back.

I don't know if it was seeing the blood, imagining their crash, or having known them, but when I see a wet spot in the road, or the blood stains of a road killed animal, it all comes back. It might be, as I was staring at their blood, having realized had I been with them I might have shared their fate.

It doesn't matter if you get hit head on, or get hit in the psyche, it's the same trauma. You don't recover, you cope.

 

[randomguy]

My dad and I were hit head on. He died across my lap, me in a pool of his blood. I was 19. It never goes away. Fifty years later crash noises still give me a jump.

I'm sorry you have to live with that, I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must have been / be.

It doesn't matter if you get hit head on, or get hit in the psyche, it's the same trauma. You don't recover, you cope.

Yeah, it never really leaves you. I think the hardest part was not being able to talk about it, in those days you didn't. I remember the guy from the ticket office saying to me " C'mon son, stiff upper lip now " and my parents buying me treats and toys and lots of sympathetic hugs but no interest in what I was feeling.

I no longer have clear memories of watching my daughter being born or holding her for the first time but this is still vivid. So bloody weird.

 

[user 135067]

I'm sorry you have to live with that, I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must have been / be.


Yeah, it never really leaves you. I think the hardest part was not being able to talk about it, in those days you didn't. I remember the guy from the ticket office saying to me " C'mon son, stiff upper lip now " and my parents buying me treats and toys and lots of sympathetic hugs but no interest in what I was feeling.

I no longer have clear memories of watching my daughter being born or holding her for the first time but this is still vivid. So bloody weird.

Not to deminish the value of watching your daughter be born, but happy experiences aren't powerful. They don't keep us safe. However, traumatizing memories do need to be powerful, so we will avoid them in the future.

 

[howdidifindmyselfhere?]

Being freed from my plaster jacket once every three months for a day and spending most of the time in the bath before another one was fitted the following day. This was a big part of my childhood until I had spinal fusion at the age of eleven.

 

[Finished]

My family was visting my grandfather. We all went to the park to feed the ducks. But, I was the only one that wanted to do it. So they gave me the entire loaf of bread. I headed towards the ducks and started feeding them. Everything was fine. It was fun.

Then a bunch more ducks came running over. Then they overwhelmed me and started attacking me. None of my family was watching. I never thought to let go of the bread. Instead I tried to run away. That didn't work. They knocked me to the ground. Some other people finally ran over to rescue me. I had cuts and bruises all over me. My family still didn't notice until the people brought me over to them.

I never fed the ducks ever again. Ha! ha!

 

[Claudia1794]

My family was visting my grandfather. We all went to the park to feed the ducks. But, I was the only one that wanted to do it. So they gave me the entire loaf of bread. I headed towards the ducks and started feeding them. Everything was fine. It was fun.

Then a bunch more ducks came running over. Then they overwhelmed me and started attacking me. None of my family was watching. I never thought to let go of the bread. Instead I tried to run away. That didn't work. They knocked me to the ground. Some other people finally ran over to rescue me. I had cuts and bruises all over me. My family still didn't notice until the people brought me over to them.

I never fed the ducks ever again. Ha! ha!

Ducks man...they scare me. The ones at the park I used to take my son to were straight gangster. You could be on the other side of the pond and they would surround you in record time...take cigarettes, car keys, cell phone...they were wild.

 

[TheRealCallie]

Not to deminish the value of watching your daughter be born, but happy experiences aren't powerful. They don't keep us safe. However, traumatizing memories do need to be powerful, so we will avoid them in the future.

I disagree. Memories only have as much power as you give them, whether good or bad.

 

[CenotaphGirl]

One happy memory was winning a pageant, my dad even came to watch