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Earliest Memories
When adults only remember 10 percent of their life, do you wonder what prompted your first memory? My first memory encompasses many inappropriate emotions and interpretations, which explain why it prompts memory, but other family members shared other stories, which they expect me to remember. Their memories lacked an emotional component.

Girl at the window

I failed to remember how I got to the home but I remember looking out the window seeing parents and grandparents running around yelling. I noticed my older brother and sister playing the living room, but I felt frightened. The three-year-old girl wondered why they were yelling. I interpreted that there were too many problems and maybe some anger. In addition, why were we there? I wondered about safety. The excitement made me misinterpret activity as alarm.

My brother left the living room, but returned excited. He was getting his own bedroom. The intensity of emotion added to my fear. Once again, I feared extreme emotion.

I kept wondering when we would leave and return home. We were home and this was moving day. My older sister grabbed me by the hand and showed me to the bedroom we would share. A furnace in the floor of the hallway stood between our bedroom and us. Elaine helped me over the grate, but the negative first impression has translated to other sidewalk and furnace grates as all the other memories of the day.

True Story
My family had traveled 150 miles to a new home near where my father had accepted a new job. My grandparents had helped us load up our belongings and make the move. The home was larger with a family room, larger yard and an extra bedroom, but the other home was the only one I knew. In our previous community, my maternal and paternal grandparents' home were the majority of the places we visited. I had not been in many other homes. Mom seemed happy in the kitchen finding places to put items. My paternal grandmother insisted the stove must be the first item brought into the house so she could put dinner. She was directing the males to get the task accomplished. I do not remember hunger or ever eating that evening. Through discussion with my parents and brother and sister, I learned that the emotional level never reached a high level. I misinterpreted activity as anger, and fear. My parents claimed the move went better than any other move.

Memory filters prompt our present memories and intense emotions probably activate the memory portion of the brain.
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