I still remember… an apartment I lived in till the age of 8… like I could draw a map of the interior…
I still kinda remember some of the places of my relatives that I’ve been to frequently, although those memories are a little bit more blurry.
I remember some of the schools I’ve been to… like the general vibe of it, idk if I could actually draw a map… more of a notebook doodle maybe
I used to draw maps of my neighborhood when I was in brooklyn… yeah so… I wasn’t allowed much computer time and didn’t have a phone… and my brain kinda turned my attention to the surroundings and I just get so bored and draw a map of the neighborhood lol.
My entire memory operates spatially. I have accurate floor plans of every place I’ve been to at least more than once. I can navigate any number of places. Even still have the layout and significant memories of my old middle school. (Interestingly enough, when I went back there, the whole building felt about 30% smaller in every dimension—hallways narrower and shorter, ceilings lower. Turns out, this is because I’m 30% larger than I was when I was twelve.)
I’m like this too. I can go back to a city I’ve been to once, years ago, and I know the way around. I remember the layout and location of my childhood friends houses, even when I don’t remember their names.
I’m terrible at remembering exact quotes from books, TV, etc, but I have pins in my mental map for where the scenes took place, even in fictional worlds.
And I can effortlessly visualize and move through places I’ve been to enough to learn the layouts as well. I’ve stood in the spot, where, back in high school, I turned down a girl who asked me out. I stood there, on a quiet and cold night, on the grass with no one around, and apologized to her, twenty-three years too late. Apparently being turned down was enough to put herself in a tailspin that even at the twenty-year reunion, she hasn’t pulled herself out of. Maybe I’m not to blame? But I still stood in that spot and said sorry.
It’s easy to remember where all the spots are.
I’m like this too
Even as a relative youngster I remember visiting previous schools for some reason or another and being astounded by just how tiny the chairs and desks were.
So you got kids now and went to a Parent-Teacher conference?
Damn I’m kinda nostalgic for a school I used to go to…
I mean I kinda wanna go back to the neighborhood where I used to live in and then raise kids there… and then have a moment where I’m like: “Hey kiddo, when your dad first arrived in this country, that was the school I used to go to”… like nostalgia + being able to relate to your kids…
Cuz my parents went to school in China and they had no idea what my experiences were… like I doubt they can relate to me, cuz I can hardly relate to them…
(I remember 1st 2nd grade before I came to the US, they had meter sticks they used to hit kids with and the teacher would throw chalk at kids that looked like they weren’t paying attention…)
No, I don’t have kids. A friend of mine cleans there and asked me if I wanted to see the place after a couple decades away. Dead of summer. No one around, just wandered for a few minutes. Lonely, but nothing moved an inch.
I’m trans, asexual, and taking this virginity to my grave. My bloodline stops with me.
I went back to my high school as a substitute teacher, but they had remodeled it and aside from a few familiar hallways, it was completely different.
Which is even more confusing than never being there at all, because I THOUGHT I knew where I needed to go, only to find they had moved that room to another area.