[URIIADDIVME]

I was doing a search to see if there had been a thread about earliest memories, not disturbing memories, just earliest, characteristics, dateable (?) & such. Couldn't find anything. Is there one? If not, feel free to contribute here.

I gotta go, the library closes in two minutes.

[SeptemberMorn]

Hope I don't offend anyone, but my earliest memory is of being on a train trip and nursing, being covered by a blanket for my mother's sense of modesty. I didn't want to take the breast because there was a hair on her neck?? LOL Can't for the life of me remember how I let her know but she removed the hair and all was well with the world. I was 18 months old. I know that for a fact! I checked it out with her years ago!

[seeker1950]

My earliest memory is of fearing being stuck by a safety pin while being diapered.
Patty

[SeptemberMorn]

AWWW! You must have been to have been afraid of it!

[Perna]

I tried to follow my three brothers over the creek and through the "woods" to the mom-and-pop grocery store (1952). I wasn't supposed to and had obviously tried before because this time I remember my oldest brother telling me "We're not bringing you back!" We crossed the creek and got into the woods but, being a 1950s "girl" child I was in short dress and ankle socks so the sticks and brambles, underbrush was too hard to maneuver and I got scratched and behind, etc. I "mentioned" this to my brother and that I was ready to go back :-) and he refused to stop so I turned around myself and got back to the creek but someone had moved the bridge! I knew it was to my left but when I looked that direction there was nothing; I looked right just in case and the creek went on forever and ever in that direction so then I set myself to figuring out how to get across the creek. I realized I was too small to jump it and I thought of taking off my shoes and socks and wading across but was afraid a "sea monster" might get me! I came to the conclusion that there was no way to get to the other side so I sat down and started crying my heart out. My prince charming father appeared soon though having heard my crying, jumped the drainage ditch, picked me up and saved me and I lived happily every after. He says I was around 2 and apparently I couldn't find the bridge because it was around a bend. Where's Piaget when you need him to explain about corners?

Five or six years ago my T and I figured out about the "sea monster" -- my favorite book at the time (I remember) was Dr. Seuss' McElligott's Pool which is about a boy fishing in a farm pond and imagining an underground stream that goes to the sea and all the creatures along the way. One of the last pictures is of a happy looking whale which I translated into a "monster" because of my situation at the time; my mother was in the hospital, sick and dying and I'd "lost" my toilet training so my father was using enemas on me and we were having a toileting battle my aunt remembers. I knew I wasn't supposed to be on my own or take off my shoes and socks and wade through the creek/ditch, etc. and it was scary to me anyway since it wasn't clear to the bottom (so I couldn't figure out its depth) and obviously got all the muddy/messiness confused with my other problems. It was neat uncovering what it all "meant" with my T that way, gave me "back" some of myself in some way that was good and made me stronger/happier.

[FaithisAlive]

My earliest memory is me walking with my wonderful Grammy down the hall of her church basement headed for the nursery. I was going to stay there during the service.

She was holding my hand and i can remember the pretty soft dress I was wearing and the ribbons in my hair. I remember the Father leaning down with his kind face to say hello while he shook my little hand in his great big one. He was really a Godly man and I knew it.

I can smell the incense with that childs sense of smell too... my mother says i wasn't 3 years old yet when I wore that dress.The Episcopal church where she grew up.

Thank you for this thread...

[charlajustin]

My earliest memory is in pre-school. I even remember my pre-school teachers name Mrs. Bellsky. She was always so nice to me. I remember she always smelled good and had the most beautiful smile. She would push me in the swings at recess and taught me how to sing " You Are My Sunshine ". I still sing that song every day to my children and remind them that they are my Sunshines all the time.

[SerenitysWave]

<font color="purple"> My earliest memory: I was not yet 2 yrs old and I was hospitalized for brochnial pnemonia... I remember being in the oxygen bubble.... I remember getting shots in my thighs and how that hurt ( I can still somehwhat recall the room itself in parts. </font>

[cynicalsierra]

My earliest memory is when i was 7 and i used to make tacos with leaves with my sister nad friends. My memory sucks. as im sure some peoples is

[zoidy]

My earliest memory is from when I was about 14 months old. I was sitting in my high chair eating weet bix. Suddenly it occurred to me that because my bowl was empty, I should put it on my head. So I did. And was very surprised to find that the bowl wasn't empty and weet bix started dripping down in front of my eyes.

mine is visiting a posh house in yorkshire, manicured lawns, big gardens, massive house, outbuildings!!! a kids ideal playground, i was about 3-4 with my dad, i found a dead bird on the grass and started playing with it, we left soon after that,

i found in later years that it was my mothers parents house and they had not seen me in years, neither had my mother, i have never been back there and have not seen either my mother or her parents for 30 years now

it is painfull sometimes to remember this memory

[desirae]

Mine was of my Mom sleeping because she pulled anb all nighter and I was alone in the living room spreading milk all over the coffee table. My intention was to clean it up for mommy. Then when I was done with that I went to the T.V and spread a bar of soap on the screen, well I must have twisted one of those color buttons, and the entire screen went white. I was there scrubbing the screen thinking the soap wasn't coming off and mom would be mad. When she woke up I told her about what I had done and she fixed it for me laughing. It was funny.

I also remember when I was like 3-4 I used to go behind the Nichols Bakery and press the button that opened the large door to let the trucks go in. I used to press it and run away before the workers saw me.

I also remember a little boy throwing a dead bird in my hair and it getting stuck. I ran around screaming like crazy till my Mom came out and pulled it out of my hair...eh, gross...lol

I don't have any earliest memories. I have DID and what that means is that all my memories from childhood are basically stored at my unconscious (unremembered and unaware) level of thinking. Through co consciousness and integration process I have recovered a few memories but they are all abuse related. What memories that I have recovered do have some light and easy stuff mixed in there like going swimming but the memory of going swimming is part of the memory of being touched while in my bathing suit kind of thing.

Someday I hope to find that earliest memory which in the therapy world of DID is called the core memory that caused the person to first dissociate to the point where their memories started to be separated and stored at the unconscious level of thinking. once I locate that memory Im told I will have a full range of whole memories with out having to be dissociated to experience them.

But right now what I most remember of my childhood is floating in my mental safe place la la land on my musical mental clouds and sitting under my mental tree watching those musical mental clouds floating around.

[EJ711]

Hi All,

My earliest memories were of me and my mother running up the long driveway where we lived at the time with bees after us. Evidently, we disturbed the bees when we had been picking some black-eyed susans at the foot of the driveway. I can remember hearing my mother scream.

EJ

There was a thread similar to this a while back-- I even posted on it-- but darn if I can recall when or where it was?? sometimes I do well just knowing where my keys are, or my shoes!!

Anyway, one of the earliest memories I have-- and it's been verified by my older brother-- is when I was three he took me with him and hoisted me up through a small bathroom window of a hardware store-- late at night. I then walked through the dark store following his voice and the small crack of light streaming through the locked front door-- he told me how to unlock it. There was no alarm system on this small family owned store. On the way home I remember sitting on the front handle bars of his bike as all my brothers pockets were bulging and clanging.
-- Anyone remember the movie : "Oliver"??? that was me in a mini-version.

mandy

[(JD)]

DocJohn had a question regarding this... in the ah! Question of the Month forum http://tinyurl.com/yxcgvs

That's the one-- thanks Sky-- you sure have a good memory!

oops!! sorry I've gotten off topic----

We now return to our scheduled thread..........

mandy

[Boopers]

My earliest memory is when I was five. My Uncle was moving out of state and I remember him telling me to never lose my blonde curls.
Linda

[Peanuts]

My earliest memory was when I was 15 mths old, I remember my dad and another man dragging in a tree - xmass tree. I remember being somewhat impressed that they were dragging in something that I thought came from the front yard. I know how old I was because, according to my parents, that was the last year we had a real xmas tree. We had fake trees every year afterwards.

[URIIADDIVME]

Hey, that's great, Episcopals and Wheat-a-bix and all.

I've got time today, I'll tell one of my earlier memories. I was ten and a half months old and the family moved out of state. Two days of driving, towing a trailer. I have numerous vivid recollections of the journey, parents confirm the date. At the end, the family holed up in a motel in the new city. They made hot cocoa and i sat there in happy anticipation doing my best to say "Chocolate" it must have come out as "Co-co," or some such, everbody laughed at the noise I was making. It means of course, that i knew what cocoa was.