A flashbulb memory is a highly detailed, vivid, precise, long-lasting, concrete memory of the news or the events in the past so shocking or so memorable, as if you've taken a snapshot. One can recall the amount of sunlight, how early it was, how quiet it was inside the house, the birds tweeting outside, the temperature, the pace of the heartbeat, the color of the surroundings, the noise in the background, you remember something very much that you wouldn't be able to forget it.

One of my flashbulb memories is when I ate with my relatives to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. It was afternoon. It was a bit hot. And we went inside this simple restaurant. I remember the brown door. I ordered pork with stock, and shrimps on the side. The table was brown too and I was somehow seated in the middle of the table. Until now I can't forget how bad I felt that day, how terrible my stomach felt and how I was always wanting to throw up.

When I took off my eyeglasses, my mom found out how yellow my eyes were. When we finished eating, and I still recall how I had so much leftovers, we went to the doctor. I still remember how busy the hospital was that late afternoon, and how gray the walls were. I sat on marble, and there was a small fountain behind me. The fountain was marble too and I was waiting for our turn. When it was our turn, we entered the opened white door. When my mom told the doctor how bad I felt, I think the doctor had an idea. So I went upstairs to get a blood test.

After waiting for a couple of minutes, the nurse returned and said that they had to test my blood again, because they might have found an error. After the second test, they gave me the results on this white paper. My doctor reviewed the results and she took off her eyeglass to rub her eyes.

She explained something to me and I figured out easily that something was wrong. I forgot the technical term for it, but in the blood there is a certain level [name escaped me, sorry] to measure if there's something wrong with my liver. This certain indicator should measure a level of 35 for males, and 70 for females. I forgot the name of the indicator but if you are below 35 for that certain level, you're normal.

The number on my paper was 1356. Compare that to a normal level of 35.

I had Hepatitis.

I remember having asked, do you want to go home or do you want to be admitted in the hospital? I was still the middle of my university term. So I guess, I'll be missing a lot of days. I was rushed to be admitted and I can still recall that brown hospital stretcher. I was asked what was the color of my urine, I said that it was brown and I was admitted into my room.

I had Hepatitis A. And from there on, I just stayed on my bed for weeks watching the Christian Network. My pastor dropped by and remarked that I was just spending time with my family. Maybe I just needed the time off. I wasn't really scared at that time. I wonder why. I got better from 1356 to below 35 in about 6 weeks. Until now, I carry this story vividly.

Labels: flasbulb memory