I have a recollection or two like this.
Where you remember very little of the day itself.
But you do remember posing for the pictures at the end at some point.
There’s chaos always, isn’t there?
In the build-up you get fussing, crying, frowning, pleading, bargaining, bribing, and sometimes even yelling and threats.
And you do it all for a snapshot – an instant when you all looked happy.
I find it comforting, however, that this is not often the first of what we remember.
I read today that most of our first memories are at 5 – 8 years old on a trip with our family.
An unexpected trip at an unexpected time hits the nail on the head, in my opinion.
Understand: Travel more.
My parents bought Johnny Carson’s house on Hayvenhurst Avenue in Encino. My most vivid memory of the three years we lived there was of the day a film crew showed up in our living room to tape a show called Here’s Hollywood. My mother was extremely nervous, and we children were made to dress up in poufy dresses, white ankle socks, and black patent leather shoes, with our hair pulled tightly back into bows. We had to sit absolutely still and silent on the sofa next to my parents while the camera was trained on us and the interviewer spoke to them.