Happy Times from Students

Early life memories are often something we hold onto for a long time. These memories usually have a backstory or reasoning as to why a person has been able to retrieve it from their long term memory. Some memories may be bad, and often those are the ones you remember the most instead of the good or happy memories.   

Talking to students at Pentucket made it seem that the simpler the memories are, the more memorable they are. Meaning, these memories don’t necessarily have anything that really surprised or shocked students.

Jake Lacroix, a sophomore and the class president said this for his favorite early life memory:

“When I was at my current house, we would sled down a hill that was in my yard. We would build ramps to get air time on our sleds. After we got exhausted, we would go inside and make hot cocoa and watch Christmas movies.”

A memory as simple as this is something he has remembered all this time. So, he was then asked why he has remembered it all this time. “It comforts me when I think about it and reminds me of a happy time in my life.” So with this, Lacroix’s happiness is connected with a simpler time in his life.

Tommy Dubow, a senior at Pentucket, had more or less the same story: a very simple memory that has stuck with him all this time. 

“My favorite early memory was at my old house in Haverhill. I was roughly six years old. I would wait at the door for my dad and wait for him to get home from work. [I would] ride my red foot-pushed motorcycle in my driveway. I specifically remember crashing into my garage door all the time.” 

Even though Dubow has a bad part to his memory, which is crashing into his garage door, this was a time where crashing into his garage was his biggest worry. Like Jake, he was asked why he has remembered this for so long. He said: “Probably because it was good bonding time with my Dad, whether it was waiting for him to get home everyday or walking alongside me on my red motorcycle.”

But after interviewing students here at Pentucket, I think it’s something different. I think it’s simplicity.

Lastly, Mac Cole, a junior, was asked the same two questions as LaCroix and Dubow. He replied: “Playing hockey in the outdoor rink in our backyard [is my favorite memory]. Me, my parents and my two brothers played a hockey game in the backyard on February vacation.”

“Because I have been playing hockey my whole life, either with friends and or competitively playing for the school. But this memory is one of my favorite memories out of all of the times I have been playing hockey.”

After talking to these three students, I have come to the conclusion that favorite early life memories are always tied to simplicity. Whether it’s sledding, riding a foot push motorcycle, or playing hockey in the backyard rink,they all fit under the umbrella of when life was a simple time.