I'm sure we all have images burned onto our retinas that we can never take back. Once seen, they can never be unseen. They are part of us for life.
Five of the things I have seen that I wish I could unsee.
1. A man getting brutally bashed.
This was in Nairobi. He stole a bag. They bashed him.
2. Inside my friend's vagina.
This is a story I only ever tell after about 47 glasses of wine and 3 tequila shots.
3. The lint filter of my washing machine after discovering that my 2 year old washing machine has a lint filter.
No further correspondence will be entered into on this matter.
4. The ultrasound of a blighted ovum pregnancy
That sweet mother's face is the bit that I can never unsee.
5. The home of an obsessive-compulsive hoarder
I have had an aversion to clutter ever since.
What things have you seen that you wish you could unsee?
[Image (which technically has nothing to do with this post but it has binoculars and is pretty) via weheartitbutdon'tcreditit - please let me know if it is yours]
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51 comments:
mmmm.....thats got me thinking!! (on so many levels!!)
I wish I could unsee my daughters terrified face as I drove her at breakneck speed to the hospital as she was going into respiratory failure. She developed a serious complication after spinal surgery.
A child's hand pressed against the rear window of an upside down 4WD that had crashed.
A photo of my mother when she was dying from cancer.
I wish I could unread point number 2! Not even going to ask!
As for things I would like to 'unsee'? The mouldy, rotten piece of unidentifiable fruit that I just found in Miss 11's lunchbox buried deep in her cupboard. Trouble looming.
My dad after he had died, viewing at funeral home. Haunts me to this day.
Crying now....
I've seen inside my friend's vagina too.
I love telling the story though.
It's always shocking.
my goodness bron, you may have opened up a can of worms here! I'm with lipgloss mumma re point number two!!
Mine would be going to see my cousin after he had died in a car accident at the funeral parlour. I couldn't get my head around the fact that it was him, it didn't look like him at all :(
There's probably many more..
x
hehe, no vagina's here. Seeing my a special lady crying as her children were locked outside and she stood watching us after the ex step-dad had raped her.
Current pictures of orphans in Russian mental asylums because they have special needs.
Horrible. Great post Lovely xx
An horrific scene in that movie Romper Stomper where they break a poor fellows jaw over a gutter...horrendous! My principal (when I was teaching might I add) conducting the staff meeting with a continous green snotty nose...finally had to hand the poor love a tissue...maybe it was more for me so I wouldn't vomit. Dry retching at the thought!! Wishing you a grand week :) xx
I'm not sure why I clicked on this post ...
When I was about seven, me and my brother were taken by some irresponsible adults to a flat where someone had been stabbed to death.
It's a long story, but I wouldn't mind unseeing that.
Wow, copy Lib's answer word for word. I didn't understand death and was absolutely not ready to see him like that.
And I'm with you on the lint filter. I had NO idea!
Omg the Romper Stomper scene.... Ditto on that and also Once we were warriors... But my king hit would have to be Mum n Dad's "Private X Rated" Polaroid Collection... age 11.. That'll teach me for snooping in their bedsides!
Omg the Romper Stomper scene.... Ditto on that and also Once we were warriors... But my king hit would have to be Mum n Dad's "Private X Rated" Polaroid Collection... age 11.. That'll teach me for snooping in their bedsides!
oh my I am going to see if my machine has a lint filter!
The image of my father after he died from cancer. It has taken me years to accept the image and see living memories again...
It feels a bit like when Mel and Danny compared scars in Lethal Weapon.
Too many really...goes with the job...worst one was the face of a mother when she carried her child that she'd run over into ED
number 2 sounds horrid :D
I wish I could unseen the war and bombing from back when I was a little girl, but unfortunately I can't...
Lovely post though, I love your blog :)
xx
We totally need to hear the vagina story!!! And, I'm heading to the laundry to see if my washing machine has a lint filter too!
Any scary movie! It haunts me for days...
#4
Same.
Crippled me.
xx
what on earth is a lint filter?
Ummm. This post and the comments. I stopped at comment 5 or thereabouts...
My father after he had died is the only thing I can really think of.
But there are things I wish I could unhear... When I called my Mum in Scotland to tell her that her father had died... I still hear her "What?!?!? My father?!?!?" and her sobs... and that was almost 30 years ago now.
The image of my baby's heart beating on the ultrasound, just before I was rushed to surgery with an ectopic pregnancy.
My cousin had a baby that died and I wish I could unsee that tiny white casket. Every single day of my life.
My husband's feet.
I'm not going to think to hard on this one, but the first incident that springs to mind is a car crash that I saw from my fourth floor balcony (back in the old apartment days!) A guy on a motorbike got t-boned by a car, had his leg crushed and lay in the middle of the road screaming until the ambulance took him away. I still get the shudders thinking about it.
Wow this one is intense! Such a great, thought-provoking post. Any chance we can catch up for 47 wines, call me sick but I am intrigued about number 2! :)
Ok.
My father after he passed away, at the viewing. I was 9. His hair wasn't done right. I just couldn't believe what had happened (a very sudden death, he was hit by a car). Much prefer the real life memories. Such a shock. I have goosebumps and my heart is pounding now.
The kitten I happened to find once, wrapped in a towel in Mum's freezer - it was summer and it turns out she was too depressed at the time to deal with it & forgot to ask someone else to (yikes on so many levels).
Lots of things when I worked in the news room - raw footage is exactly that, horribly raw.
I'm off to check for a lint filter. I feel like some tequila too. Its 8am though...hmmm...again, a great post. All about being human. xx
Way to many images for me after 23 yrs of Nursing....the one that still pops up frequently is the anguish on a new Mummas face when she woke from her C section and I had to tell her that her beautiful perfect baby girl was dead...it did my head in :(
Bron
This post made me think about how so many of the things I fear and that torment me are products of my mind rather than actual visual memories.
All except #4, that is...
SSG xxx
This post makes me realise that I really haven't seen anything traumatic.
Growing up, my Dad was a GP in a rural area and I did the ward rounds with him. I saw seriously ill, dying and deceased people frequently, so when I have seen people pass away later in life it has not been as shocking as it would otherwise be.
My aunty died of a brain tumour at a young age, but it isn't an image that stays with me - it's the loss that her children suffered, and suffer.
Great post Bron. How funny! And thought provoking at the same time.
I think my things would be the flasher that flashed me and my friends outside a bar once. Gross. And my Grandad just before he died - I went to visit him at home and didn't think he was lying in the bed, because his frame had shrunk so much he was barely even there. So sad.
My Mum's bloody face after my Dad hit her - one of my earliest memories.
My beloved Grandfather's face as set by the mortician after his death. It was all wrong for him & took me a long time to stop thinking of him with that face every time I thought of him.
Dead dog being run over by motorbike after motorbike when we were in Marrakech
Seeing my 18 year old brother laid out on a bed in hospital after he died in a car accident. He looked like he was sleeping.
It ripped my heart out and to this day I wish that my last memory of his face was the last time I saw him alive ...
This is so funny and sad reading everyone's comments, makes me realise I am such a lucky girl. I have had no major traumas and time seems to heal all wounds for me. Even though I get stressed in the moment nothing really seems to stick with me.
Thanks for making me realise I have so much to be thankful for
wow I wish I had not seen some of these comments as I am seriosuly tearing up. xxx
Wow...what a thought provoking post, Bron. Things I wish I hadn't seen:
1. My Yiayia in the days before her death from cancer. It was a relief to see her at the funeral. She looked peaceful and free of the pain she had endured. In the days before she died... well.. I cant even describe it nor do I want to but I hope I never ever have to see someone I love go through that again :(
2. My Dads porn mag collection in the 80's... I was snooper and I got caught! I felt so much shame (and saw too much, to young as a result)
3. My Dad and stepmum naked and 'doing it' on the couch when I was 15... EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!! Erase this image from my mind!!
4. A horrible horrible image on a Facebook page that a friend was protesting against and therefore bought in to my news feed. I cant repeat here what it was as it was too disturbing.
Phew... All a bit dark really... IS it too early for a stiff drink!!??
PS - We need a post about why you saw inside your friends Vag please!
The inside of your friends vagina? I'm bringing the wine and tequila!
jesus...this is all a bit full on for a tuesday.
I wish I hadnt noticed my ex-husband the first time he walked into my life...wonder where Id be now if I hadnt glanced to the left.
A cat mauling a half-dead screaming rabbit :(
I gave you an award on my blog. Click here for info :)
xx
...the day my son jumped off his sister's bed and cut his head open - there was so much blood pouring out I almost fainted!
My sister taking her last breath at 27
My dad trying to OD on our front lawn
My step-dad holding a knife to my mums throat
All the domestic violence I seen growing up
My brothers & sister being frightened as kids
Gosh I could go on & on...It sometimes feels like I have seen too much bad stuff that it stops me from remembering the good stuff. I know the good stuff is there, its just buried under a pile of bad stuff....
Oh god, you are right, but seeeing as I worked in Child Protection I perhaps should not be allowed to enter! All those little babes, bashes, abused, neglected. The little ones that I, at times had to rip out of their parents arms because they chose drugs not food. Too much to see, too young for me. And you are right...I can never unsee it!
...you've got me thinking too..
one that comes to mind involved a dog and guinea pig :(
Ohhh such a good question! Mine would be a stack of husband related ones, travel ones, a couple of magical fireworks watching ones and YES to the clean house! Especially now we have a dog! xsx
Ah crap I totally just got my comment posting the wrong way round!! Please take previous comment and insert into previous post! haha!
I think after 47 glasses of wine and 3 shots that is a story I would like to hear!!
My son having a febrile convulsion. Permanently burned into my retinas unfortunately.
Dogs with eye balls and intestines hanging out of them in India - a dieing puppy in Morocco - broken and whimpering after kids had continually ridden over it with their bikes. The cruelty delivered to animals by our species - and seen first hand - is a devastation I cannot shake!
Reading the comments above i am struck at how common incidents of trauma are in people's live - We are indeed a very resilient bunch - great post bron - thought provoking and humorous! ....Oh - and thanks to my 'nesting' experiences - i too found the lint thingy... Oh My
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