Heh. I've got memories from ages two and three that are pretty solid, and there were not photos or other records to prompt them. Some people really can do this. Some of my early memories were "filled in" by later experiences when I learned something that "explained" the earlier memory, and it was then reinforced, but the early memories are independent from the later ones.
My earliest memory was President Kennedy's assassination, but of course I had no idea of what a president was, life, death, etc. I was 16 months old. What I do remember was a bunch of strange people in and out of the house with the TV on and everyone very concerned, but what I remember most of that day was that it was the day I learned how to shake my crib and move it around the room while I was inside. I remember my parents not liking the fact that I was able to do that. I've never discussed that memory with them, and they're both gone now, so I never will.
I've got memories from when I barely knew how to talk, and didn't understand what the people around me were saying. My memory isn't good enough to decode what was said after I learned the language. I can clearly remember sitting in my high chair eating Alphabet cereal, and trying to make words with the letters I had not yet learned. I get sad when I think about how my parents would brush me off, probably thinking that I was too young to learn much. (My parents were both school teachers!)
My earliest memory was President Kennedy's assassination, but of course I had no idea of what a president was, life, death, etc. I was 16 months old. What I do remember was a bunch of strange people in and out of the house with the TV on and everyone very concerned, but what I remember most of that day was that it was the day I learned how to shake my crib and move it around the room while I was inside. I remember my parents not liking the fact that I was able to do that. I've never discussed that memory with them, and they're both gone now, so I never will.
I've got memories from when I barely knew how to talk, and didn't understand what the people around me were saying. My memory isn't good enough to decode what was said after I learned the language. I can clearly remember sitting in my high chair eating Alphabet cereal, and trying to make words with the letters I had not yet learned. I get sad when I think about how my parents would brush me off, probably thinking that I was too young to learn much. (My parents were both school teachers!)