Flashbulb Memories

Something that really interested me was the topic of flashbulb memories. Flashbulb memories are emotional memories that a person can recall in vivid detail, usually for the rest of their lives. They can tell you exactly where they were, what they were doing, and who they were with, when a certain event occurred in their lives.

I believe flashbulb memories to be true, because there are certain events in my life that I can remember so vividly it's like they happened only days ago. One of the easiest to remember, as it is possibly the most traumatic event to happen in my life and never too far from my mind, is when I watched my grandfather die from lung cancer when I was eleven.

I'm twenty years old now, and I can still remember what I was doing when my mom came to get me from school to take my brother and myself out to Wisconsin, where my grandpa was in the hospital (I was watching the clock intently, and counting how much longer I would have to be stuck in class for. Not joking.) I still remember how it felt to go to my grandparent's large, empty house, what it felt like sitting in the hospital waiting room, what my grandpa looked like hooked up to machines, where I would hide away to get a moment away from my family, what I did the night before he was taken off life support.

It's not something I think I'll ever forget. I can't tell you what the date was that he died on, but I remember it was a Sunday, because a woman from my father's church joked early on that morning that my brother and I had "a good excuse to be late for Sunday school", and I've hated her ever since for saying that and for implying that we would show up for church that day at all. I remember that when we got home, I went downstairs and immediately started calling my friends to find someone to play with so I wouldn't have to sit there and think about it, but I don't remember what I did once I found someone to hang out with.

There isn't anything I wonder about when it comes to flashbulb memory. I think it's fairly self-explanatory. The events that happen during a person's life time that impacted their lives in a big way is going to stick with them, in detail, for the rest of their lives. Mostly, I just wanted to write about this because I thought it was interesting. That a person can remember so clearly what they were doing when a certain thing happened, but they can't remember what they did with the rest of their day, or what happened during the days proceeding or following said event is... kind of weird, for lack of a better word.