The earliest memory I can think of was when I lived in Puerto Rico. The memory took place around age 4.
My best friend (at the time), her mother and I were going to the beach to celebrate my fourth birthday. We arrived at the beach, and the weather was quite nice.
After my friend and I started swimming in the ocean, we both experienced very sharp pain on our skin. We exited the water and found these red dots patterning our bodies. We didn't know what they were at the time, and neither did my friend's mother. Because of this, she took us to urgent care at the nearest hospital, and I spent most of my birthday waiting in the room, and ultimately trying to figure out what caused these painful red spots.
The conclusion was that jellyfish stung both my friend and I. My friend had been stung significantly worse. I remember thinking that she was kind of a cry baby though, because she wouldn't stop sobbing.
I feel like ultimately I am the same person, but I have grown and developed a lot since then. I still have some of the same characteristics that I did back then. For the most part I was laid back and didn't complain too much... but sometimes made fun of others... hehe.
-- Edited by 102intro on Sunday 23rd of October 2011 04:23:07 PM
-- Edited by 102intro on Sunday 23rd of October 2011 04:23:54 PM
I would say this memory comes from that fact that this may be a relatively "traumatic" point in your life. I was once stung by a jellyfish and I didn't particularly enjoy it (quite painful if I remember). Even more so it was on your Birthday! A combination of the fact that it was your birthday and you got stung by a jellyfish possibly etched this into your memory.
I agree with the above response. I also think the fact that you passed a judgement on your friend (cry baby) adds to the memorability of the event; you were either annoyed, or confused by her reaction to the same situation you were in. And obviously, being your birthday, the time spent anticipating the excitement of the event probably helped make the memory more lasting.
