How much do you remember in your first 20 years of life?

[Anonymous]

I remember lots of it from age 6 and on, before that is fuzzy.

Also not to hijack the thread, but somewhat related random factoid: Marilu Henner has a rare condition that lets her recall all details of every day of her life!

https://www.brainandlife.org/articles/actress-marilu-henner-has-a-highly-superior-autobiographical-memory-a

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember so little of my first 20 years, and I'm wondering how it compares to others.

Do you remember your high school graduation? Where it was, what you wore, what you did afterwards?

Do you remember feeling intense love for your parents as a child?

Do you remember your college graduation?

Do you remember what you did most days after school in elementary, middle, high school (what your general routine was, not specific days!)

Do you remember what childhood dinners were like with your family?

I'm just curious....I have trouble remembering all of these things except for college graduation. I feel like memories don't imprint on me very well...

Yes to all of this

[Anonymous]

I remember it all except I never felt intense love for either parent and I didn't go to college graduation for BS or MS degrees. In my 70s.

[Anonymous]

My experiences were different than yours. But your memory seems really off. I absolutely remember all sorts of details about what I did all the time. Earlier than 6 or so, my memories are of course spotty. But I remember just as much about my teens as I do about my thirties. I'm 48 now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember so little of my first 20 years, and I'm wondering how it compares to others.

Do you remember your high school graduation? Where it was, what you wore, what you did afterwards?

Do you remember feeling intense love for your parents as a child?

Do you remember your college graduation?

Do you remember what you did most days after school in elementary, middle, high school (what your general routine was, not specific days!)

Do you remember what childhood dinners were like with your family?

I'm just curious....I have trouble remembering all of these things except for college graduation. I feel like memories don't imprint on me very well...

I am 60.

I remember everything you mentioned, except for intense love for my parents as a child. I don’t know what you mean by that. I love them, I remember them growing up, but I don’t remember intense emotions toward them or from them- Just loving kindness.

[Anonymous]

I had a bad childhood, and I remember some moments very vividly, like a movie replaying. Unfortunately, most of those memories are traumatic ones. I had very few joyful moments in childhood, and I don't remember any of them. I may have never experienced real happiness or joy as a child. I have some memories from a summer sleepaway camp that I liked. I have more memories from college -- I really enjoyed college, had fun, lots of friends, and minimal contact with my family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember so little of my first 20 years, and I'm wondering how it compares to others.

Do you remember your high school graduation? Where it was, what you wore, what you did afterwards?

Do you remember feeling intense love for your parents as a child?

Do you remember your college graduation?

Do you remember what you did most days after school in elementary, middle, high school (what your general routine was, not specific days!)

Do you remember what childhood dinners were like with your family?

I'm just curious....I have trouble remembering all of these things except for college graduation. I feel like memories don't imprint on me very well...

Yes, I remember all of those things, as well as some snapshot memories of moments when I was a toddler — like playing in the sand at the beach, and sitting on the basement floor with a favorite toy while my Mom did laundry. I can remember conversations, what I was thinking, even what I was wearing, experiences in school, and some of these memories even have a musical soundtrack. Many of my memories include smells, tastes, physical sensations, and sounds as well as visual impressions.

[Anonymous]

I remember all those things and more back to preschool. I could draw you a map of the layout of the preschool - finger painting area, dressing up area, woodwork area with real hammers and nails, mat for singing, table for milk and apple slices etc. I did a solo at Christmas time for Santa Claus - my last solo singing performance. I had a locker with an umbrella symbol on it. I commuted there alone on my tricycle.

[Anonymous]

Almost 49 and I remember all of that, plus more.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I remember all of that and much more.

[Anonymous]

I’m 49 and remember tons of details from my childhood.

I can even remember lots of things from the first house we lived in, so I was under 3 yo.

But I can’t for the life of me remember my high school graduation. Except for the shoes I wore. That’s really bugging me now, lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a bad childhood, and I remember some moments very vividly, like a movie replaying. Unfortunately, most of those memories are traumatic ones. I had very few joyful moments in childhood, and I don't remember any of them. I may have never experienced real happiness or joy as a child. I have some memories from a summer sleepaway camp that I liked. I have more memories from college -- I really enjoyed college, had fun, lots of friends, and minimal contact with my family.

I'm sorry. Same for me.

[Anonymous]

All of it, basically.

Do you remember your high school graduation? Where it was, what you wore, what you did afterwards? - It was outside, I wore a white gown with red accents, I went to the local diner afterwards with my parents and grandparents.

Do you remember feeling intense love for your parents as a child? No, I never felt that.

Do you remember your college graduation? No - I found out it cost money to attend PLUS I'd have to miss work, so skipped it.

Do you remember what you did most days after school in elementary, middle, high school (what your general routine was, not specific days!) - yep, absolutely.

Do you remember what childhood dinners were like with your family? yes, hated them, so boring and my mother was not a good cook.

[Anonymous]

I can remember every detail, of every day since about 5 (I’m 55). It can be fun, and a curse. It’s a disorder called hyperthymesia, not many known cases.

[Anonymous]

Almost everything. So much cringe