52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Week #37 - Earliest Memory

Week #37 – Earliest Memory

Week 37: Earliest Memory. What is your earliest memory?

I've been told I couldn't possibly remember this event. Not only by my parents, but by a physician as well. But my earliest memory, of this life [and I'll explain that momentarily], is of an event that occurred when I was only 13 months of age. My parents at first told me there was no way I could remember the event, but when I described the event to them [over 30 years after it occurred], they were amazed at the clarity with which I described the event, and the accuracy of it as well.

When I was 13 months old, my Dad re-enlisted in the US Navy, after a 10-month absence. His first duty assignment was to be in Norfolk, Virginia. So, he packed Mother and I into a car with our few belongings and we drove from New Albany, Indiana, to Norfolk's Naval base.

What I can recall, is that the event had to have occurred in December. I clearly recall the Christmas decorations and colored lights at each town we passed through [this was pre-interstate travel!] And I can remember standing between Mothr and Daddy in the front seat of the car [yes... that was back before parents knew it was "unsafe practice!"] and pointing at the many Christmas lights!

I can also remember stopping at railroad tracks and watching trains go by. I was fascinated by trains, and as I saw each one I would squeal with delight and yell "Wee-willy-woo-woo!" [Don't ask me where I got that phrase!]

Okay, so any, or all, of this "recollection", could easily have been recalled from my parents simply telling me the tale of the move from state to state over and over again, until I simply thought it was a memory. Right? But here's the clincher. I can remember my Mother bundling me into a pink "fluffy" snowsuit and cursing when the zipper broke. We were preparing to go into a diner for breakfast. Mother confirmed the remembrance.

I also remembered being bundled into my Daddy's leather flight jacket [again confirmed] to be carried into the diner. And I recall sitting on my Mother's lap and eating a powdered sugar covered donut for breakfast. [Yes... we sometimes ate donuts and milk for breakfast!] Again confirmed.

I also remember lying on the car seat, between Mother and Daddy, looking through the windshield and asking Mother for a "kissmus cane" [a candy cane]. Again, confirmed.

It is my earliest remembrance or memory in this life. And I point out "this life" simply because, about 11 years ago, my daughter and I was reading a book by psychic Sylvia Browne, where she actucally guides you through a regressive memory technique and helps you to recall if you had lived before or not. In fact allowing you to know if you have an "old soul" and are the re-incarnation of someone else.

Ms. Browne believes that we actually carry over traits from any previous lives we may have. Things that may have harmed us, even killed us, in a previous life.

In working through the exercise, my daughter [who was 16 at the time], recalled having been a man in the 1920's. A philanderer, if you will, that was shot in the back from a jealous husband and died. When attempting to describe the place where she/he had been shot, she was able to tell us exactly where it was located. Before looking, I already knew the spot. My daughter had chicken pox when she was 4. She had two especially large pox marks. One on her temple, and one on her back. The one on her back? In the exact spot where she/he had been shot in her previous life. [Gave me goosebumps then, and still does today!]

As for my regression... I have been plagued for years with numerous lung ailments. Including lung cancer, from which I very nearly did not survive! During my regression, I was a young girl of 12, who lived in a very cold climate. It was cold there almost all of the time. I could not read nor could I write. We later determined I must have lived in Finland or Norway, simply because of the dress I was able to describe and draw a picture of. It was typical of 12th Century garments worn by Norse women. During my regression, I was asked what happened to me. I answered that my baby brother and I were playing on the ice over the river. I fell through the ice, but managed to shove him away from me before I was pulled under the waters and drowned.

So... in all honesty, my earliest memory, is of a previous life, or actually the ending of that life.

I can laugh about it now, but going through this past life regression was actually quite upsetting to me at the time, as the idea was simply at odds with what my religion had taught me. And it scared me so badly, that I never attempted to see if there had been any other lives. But the silliest of all came when a friend, who attempted the same regression, discovered she was the re-incarnation of her own great-grandmother!