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People Share The Best Childhood Memories They Have Of Their Parents

People Share The Best Childhood Memories They Have Of Their Parents
Photo by kevin liang on Unsplash

During a stressful global crisis like the pandemic, it can be very helpful to leave the present for a few moments and reflect on easier, lighter times from the past.


The pandemic has pushed a massive amount of people to remain at home. Isolated stillness can conjure a number of emotions: boredom, frustrated feelings of uselessness, suffocation, anxiety.

These are the emotional fruits of a rare moment of increased, intensive slowness and contemplation. More time to think, more time to brood.

There are other directions one may go, however. One Redditor's question prompted a more positive route of thought. It demands departure from the present, strong personal images, and often laughter. All are things we need.

ydness asked, "What are some good/happy memories you have of your parents growing up?"

CLASSIC

"When we took a walk, I grab their hands, pulled myself up and swing." -- VePe000

"I love doing this with my niece. It's so cool to have fun with her and wonder if any will be memories she'll look back on in the far future." -- Andromeda321

"I can't describe to you the nostalgia I get from reading that." -- blackbirdsix

When It Hits You in the Face

"I had a cat who had a litter of kittens and when they were a little over two weeks old we would take them outside and let them walk around some."

"Well one evening, as the sun was setting, I was out there while me parents were working on building a bench and I was sitting on the ground near them with these kittens."

"And I heard my dad say to my mom, 'We have an good life' with his arm wrapped around her watching me and the kittens."

-- Sissonater

Must've Been the Swag

"When my dad took me to work with him for take your kid to work day. He was a director of technology at the time and he showed me some of the stuff he did in his day to day, let me play with markers in his office and gave me company swag."

"I told him I wanted to be like him when I grow up so I could have my own office."

"I'm now beginning my career as a woman in technology, and I don't know if I would have had the courage to go down this path without his constant encouragement and support."

-- ijustlovecostco

Have Some Questions About this Spare Room

"Dad came back from work and locked himself up in the spare room of the house, wouldn't let my younger brother and I in. When he finally opened the door, a big (and I mean biiiig) bouncy castle was waiting for us."

"It wasn't neither of our birthdays or near Christmas, just a random day. One of the best surprises and memories ever."

-- pingudumbo2012

Full Circle

"Seeing Kiss in concert with my dad. My dad saw Kiss in '78. 32 years later when I was 10 years old I randomly became a huge fan of them. Big enough to convince my dad to take me to see them in concert."

"My dad told me he never imagined he'd be taking his son to a concert for a band he saw himself over 30 years ago. I could tell he was really touched that I had the same taste in music as him."

-- xcadesterx

A Revelation

"My stepdads happy and smiley reaction when I called him 'daddy' instead of 'mister' for the first time when I was a kid." -- threadingthreader

"I got my step-dad (who I consider my main dad) when I was five. The divorce wasn't painful for me but it WAS confusing."

"It took me about a year to warm up to my step dad. I remember just walking up to him where he sat at the dining room table in our tiny apartment and matter-of-fact-ly saying, 'I love you. You're good.' "

"He got the biggest, shyest smile." -- the_littlest_blep

Only Possible Solution

"My dad getting mad that his football team lost a game and decorating the room in underwear and socks after he threw them around in anger."

"I remember walking by, seeing him standing there with the room covered in underwear and socks, and him turning to look at me and saying, 'I need to get this cleaned up before your mom gets home.' "

"I still think it's pretty hilarious."

-- Surrealism94

First Things First

"We were going to go see a movie (don't remember which one, but I was pretty young) and he was taking forever to come downstairs so we could leave."

"We kept yelling at the house from the alley asking him what was taking him so long, and he opens the bathroom window (facing the alley) and yells back at us, 'I'm taking a f*ckin sh*t' and slams the window shut."

-- Xiaxs

20/20 Hindsight

"When I was a kid my dad and I had a tradition every week of going to the video store and renting a movie or two to watch together. I remember I used to get really upset at him because every single time we'd actually start to watch the movie he would fall asleep."

"It wasn't until I was older that I realized that the reason he would fall asleep was because he was exhausted from working two very physically demanding jobs to try and give me the best life he possibly could."

"On top of that, even though he was tired he still made an effort to try and start a little tradition with me and spend time with me."

"Those memories of me having to nudge my dad awake are so great in my eyes, because they made me realize what a caring and hard working man he is."

-- -edGAR-

Do Not Underestimate the Significance of Giving Time

"My dad was in the military, and used to work away a lot. But whenever he was home, Friday's were our day."

"He'd knock off work early, pick me up from school, and we'd go fishing or crabbing."

"Then he'd cook whatever we'd caught, and we'd watch a couple of movies while we hauled all my toys out into the lounge room and played with LEGO or building blocks, or barbie dolls and ponies, or we'd build railway tracks and race trains, or build villages and re-enact scenes from the movie we'd watched."

-- FormalMango

Comfortable Silence

"I used to sit in the living room and read. He would sit across the room and play solitaire on the computer and listed to the oldies station that he liked."

"Eventually he would say, 'Well I think I'll turn in. Don't stay up too late.' and I'd say, 'I won't,' and then he said, 'Good night, son,' and I'd say, 'Good night, Dad.' "

"I hope he knew that I could have read in my room. I hope he knew that those silences were important to me. I really wish I told him that no one else in my life made me feel like I could just be near them without putting on some sort of show."

-- Whatawaist

Parents Against Traffic Laws

"When I was little me and my parents would go to the beach on those late afternoons during summer, to watch the sunset and the fisherman return, and my dad would put me on his lap and let me command the steering wheel of the car, in an empty sand road (not a road with normal traffic). I loved it!"

-- anaclaudiaaa91

When You Remember They're a Couple

"This happened only recently, I saw my normally stoic mom tapping to a song playing on spotify, then my dad jumped in and they started swing dancing."

"It was so sweet and funny, especially when my dad tried to do a dip with my mom and then my mom laughingly screamed, "No, my back! My back!' ".

"I felt like a third wheel at that moment."

-- Firi123

Smart Kid

"I remember when [my mom] was pregnant with my brother (half-brother if you want to be technical) and me and my sister could knock on her stomach and my brother would knock back the same amount of times. He could count even in there."

-- Killerbunny00

"Playing Possum," Where I Come From

"Whenever they'd carry me to bed even though I pretended to be asleep sometimes just because I felt so loved when they did." -- EmGray13

"Wow, I totally forgot until now that I used to do that too. Thank you for reminding me of such sweet memories!" -- pange93

Reliable Jokes

"Every morning from Pre-K through the third grade as I left to go to school my mom would say, 'Go to school. Go directly to school. Do not pass Go do not collect $200.' "

"Every day." -- YeahIprobablydidit

"Did you grow up focusing mainly on education?" -- Oink2019

Topsy Turvy

"My learning how to read with my dad. We always read Donald Duck. I read one bubble and he the next. Since he got a stroke and now has to learn to read again, we do the same. Love him so much." -- tuemley

Noticing a Theme Here...

"My dad was always kind of a jerk to us. He had little patience for bullsh*t and we got on his nerves often. But there were a few times we brought out the kid in him and it was great."

"He'd give us left over pieces of wood from projects and a handful of nails and a hammer and let us go to town until we hammered some wood into the floor."

"We told him our idea of a zip-line between two trees and amazingly he went for it. He shuttled us all off to the hardware store and bought all the supplies and helped us build a zip-line. It was the craziest day ever and pretty freaking epic. Till one of us fell and landed really hard on the ground from about 10 feet up."

"He built a homemade go-kart out of a lawnmower engine and spare parts. Till one of us crashed it into a bunch of bushes."

-- checkmate3001

Different Approaches to Ice

"My dad would take an extra long time making snowballs so we could throw our snowballs at his butt."

"One summer I got sick with a really high fever and my mom bought my favorite popsicles and had me eat a whole bunch of them."

-- zygote_harlot

For Kids, Grand Things Aren't Hard to Come By

"I remember LOVING ladybugs as a kid, and one day my mom surprised me with one of those containers full of ladybugs that you can buy. We went out to the backyard and my mom and I opened the container, and I just remember being in awe as I watched them all fly away."

-- ettoire


People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.