First you remember, then you are validated...

[I_am_a_dreamer]

... what if it happened the other way around?

My Granny got old and had to move out of her home and into a retirement center, sell her home and give her things to her children or auction them off.

My dad took a picture. A portrait of a young woman I'd never seen before, gazing up into the sky, a distant look in her eyes.
The first time I saw her, I stopped and sat in front of her, looking her over and over. She was so familiar. I recognized her. She had my chest. Or I had hers. They were exactly the same. I looked in the mirror and struck the pose she was in and looked at myself. I looked back at her. Exactly the same.

I found myself thinking about what kind of a person she would have been, and the answers came to me easily, as if I was asking questions about myself, and I already knew the answers. Before I knew it, I stopped thinking of us as different people. We were the same person. We even looked almost exactly the same.

She is one of my ancestors from a very, very long time ago. Is this history repeating itself?

 

[crystal_44]

Beautiful story. It sounds like rather than "remembering" you simply "knew."


I believe that everyone is an individual, and how they remember/validate is individual.


There really is no set standard on how this sort of thing should happen. You have all the answers, you just have to find them.

 

[PatriciaAndrade]

Is there any chance of confirm your "memories" with someone that knew the girl on the photo?!

 

[I_am_a_dreamer]

Is there any chance of confirm your "memories" with someone that knew the girl on the photo?!

They would have all died by now. The portrait would have been made in the 18th century or close to that.

 

[Owl]

It could very well be a past life... but it could also be just genes or some sort of "the blood speaking to you" sometimes we can imagine how our ancestors would have felt and we can get really immersed in their lives, we get this "vibe from the past" feeling and we actually wonder if we were them... but without any proof one can never be sure.


So what you need are good ol' validations


Do you remember the name of your family members from that life? the day you were born? the town you were born? if you can remember statistic things like those, and they are things that you don't already know, maybe you can find your validations in genealogy sites.


What is there in the picture? just the woman and the sky or can you see anything else? buildings? mountains? if so try to remember where you were that day and once you get it look it up to see if it matches.


Try to remember about your family, from how they looked like to what they did, specially your children and grandchildren, if you find more information maybe you can dig more into family pictures to see if they match your recollection or ask your grandparents if it' s information.


good luck!