Chapter 4: Earliest Memories
I honestly have a terrible personal memory. I can memorize facts pretty well and things like details from books and movies. But I'm terrible recalling events that happened to and around me. So I always struggle when I'm asked to remember things from my childhood. Specific anecdotes are the worst. I know I went to elementary school. I remember what the place looks like. Things had to have happened. But I just draw a blank when I try to recall. The best I get are fleeting glimpses. Walking down a hallway, something my teacher said, running in the gymnasium. Extended events are hard to come by. I do remember chipping my one of my front teeth on the concrete in fourth grade when playing supposedly two-hand touch football in the middle of the street (a brilliant idea in retrospect). It was six in the morning, too, because my friends and I pulled an all-nighter. We had to call my dentist in on a Sunday morning, and when I was being operated on, the overhead lamp broke, hit a nurse on the head, and then landed on my chest. The pain and embarrassment probably burned that into my brain. But even then I only really remember the actual chipping and the lamp landing on me. I don't think I remember anybody that was there with me. People are probably the worst. Other than a one or two close friends, I don't think I remember name or face of anyone from elementary school. So all I got is one story about me injuring myself through pure stupidity. That's kind of pathetic.