PORT ALBERNI, B.C. –
Although Alisha Pauling is looking through old pictures, she doesn’t need them to remember her Christmases past. She has a photographic memory.
“I can recall events, senses, smells,” Alisha says, along with every feeling from almost every day. “I can be transported back in time.”
One of Alisha’s earliest happy memories is when she was two, driving around in her grandpa’s station wagon, looking at Christmas lights.
“And it just sparked some light and wonder and feeling of magic,” Alisha smiles.
On the other hand, Alisha’s hardest memories are from when her remarkable gift started making her feel different than others.
“It was a little sad,” Alisha says. “I felt like I had to hide myself.”
But no matter how many bad memories she made during the year, Alisha could always count on Christmas to make countless good ones.
“It was the space and the place where I noticed people …