Riddhi Charan Week #3: Before I forget

 Riddhi Charan Week #3: Before I forget—9/23 [9:20 PM]

I don’t remember most of my childhood.

When my parents were scrolling through their camera roll and showing me pictures of the places we visited when I was a kid, I couldn’t remember anything at all. My mom was trying to remind me, telling me about the things we did and the people we met. However, it genuinely wasn’t clicking for me, and I felt like I had missed out on so much.

                                                  Image source: animalia-life.club

You see, I have always been scared of not living my life to the fullest. However, if I am doing all these crazy things, meeting new people, and trying new things just to forget it all, is it even worth it? Is it worth becoming attached and making bonds with people who feel like family, just to eventually go through the pain of losing them? To know that nothing lasts forever?

One time, while I was visiting my grandmother in India, who has dementia, she could not remember my mom. It was as if she had met a stranger instead of the person who had lived with her for half her life. I could see the pain in my mother’s eyes as she looked at the childhood picture frames of her and her mom, reminiscing about the moments they had shared.

This made me realize a lot of important lessons about life: forgive people, don’t hold grudges because they aren’t going to gain you anything, keep a record of the moments that matter—maybe through a diary or photographs—and most importantly, live in the moment.

Because maybe one day, I’ll forget this moment too.

Maybe I’ll forget the people sitting around me, the conversations I had today, or even the person I was when I wrote this. Maybe someday, we won’t remember each other’s blogs, either.

So make each moment worth it.

Comments

  1. Maxwell WangSeptember 25, 2026 at 11:13 PM

    Wow, that reminds me of my "white grandma" that my family and I were friends with in my old neighborhood. We had lots of fun together way back when I was young, and I am thankful I can remember lots of those moments.

    One day, she moved away to be closer to her family as she became more aged. We stayed in our neighborhood and occasionally got the chance to drive across states and visit her. Right before she left, she told me to stay in touch via penpal letters, and we did just that. I had so much fun letter writing and learning from her; I collected a USPS Forever stamp for each year we conversed.

    After some years and I got into middle school and she grew older, her letters to me would start restating the same things multiple times. And after a bit, I received my last letter from her. I heard somewhere that the things don't count in life; it's the feelings you get from them that counts. Just like you said how we might not remember individual, material things, we'll still carry around for a long time the feelings they helped give us.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sophie LeinerSeptember 29, 2026 at 7:33 PM

    I share a lot of your fears! My memories are very dear to me, but I feel like more often than not I forget pretty much all the little details of my day after a while. I couldn’t tell you a small thing that made me happy two Wednesdays ago, or about a conversation I had, and that’s always made me kind of sad. When I was a kid I absolutely loved the stories that my mom would tell me about her childhood, and sometimes I worry that my kids won’t have that same experience because I just won’t have anything to tell them!

    Recently I’ve started writing a little journal entry every night, documenting things I did, things that I found interesting, or just random things that brought me joy. I think it brings me a little bit of comfort knowing that my daily memories are stored somewhere other than just my brain. If you don’t do something like this already, you should definitely try it out!

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  3. Kan XuSeptember 30, 2026 at 8:11 PM

    I found this to be pretty relatable, Riddhi. For me, I barely remember anything up until the day I left China at five years old, tears in my eyes after saying goodbye to everyone at my preschool. I want to hold on to all the memories of the past that we can, for we fear of losing ourselves. Memories are the wood planks that consist of us, the ship. Over time, old memories deemed worthless are replaced with new ones, so much so that, by the end, the ship’s wood as almost completely new. This then, begs the question: at our core, are we still the same person that we once were? I think the fear of losing ourselves is what roots our desire to keep old memories. After all, we don’t want to become someone new: we just want others to accept us for who we are.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pavan Sai SunkesulaSeptember 30, 2026 at 8:45 PM

    When I was younger, I was pretty upset whenever my parents would take photos of me. However, now that I look through my own camera roll, I see more pictures of school-related stuff rather than pictures of myself, my friends, or my family. Now I am grateful that my parents have been taking pictures, even when I was upset by it, since they represent the memories and experiences of my childhood. My family used to have a lot more pictures and videos, but many are gone due to our camcorder being stolen. We can never get them back, so I cherish what we have currently and try to remember what was actually recorded on that camcorder. I have been thinking about this for quite some time, but your suggestion of keeping a diary reminded me; before I go off to college I am going to try and write down my memories and childhood experiences, stuff that only I can remember, so I can have it when I am an adult.

    Sometimes I wonder if I wasted my childhood. I could’ve hung out with friends more, explored more hobbies, or just done more with my life. I feel like I don’t have much to show for it. But, I can’t dwell on the past, so I’m just going to have to settle for making sure I spend time with my family and friends now before I don’t have any more chances to.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Riya PurumalaSeptember 30, 2026 at 9:14 PM

    Hi Riddhi, from the first line of your blog, I was able to relate to you right away! Your explanation of how you don’t remember much of your childhood, even with pictures or videos, made me think about how so many of my memories have also been forgotten, and how I would have no evidence that they even occurred without photos. I again related to your fear of not living life to its fullest. Since we share the same ideology, I was able to further understand, on a personal level, the feeling of wondering if anything even matters if it will all be forgotten. The way your perspective on this topic shifted due to your grandma, who suffers from dementia and as a result, was unable to recall your mother, was devastating to hear, while also wholesome in the way that it taught you to learn to live in the moment. I love how you ended your blog; I found it perfect how you discussed forgetting the things around you and connected it back to making every moment count in life. You have reminded me to appreciate life and every moment it holds more deeply, and the message of your blog is one that I hope to never forget!

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