It's funny but people wonder what it's like after death when they already know what it's like because they have already been there. Do you remember what it was like before you were conceived? Come on - it wasn't that long ago. I remember - it was absolute nothingness. I was nothing therefore I didn't exist. And that is exactly what life after death is like - nonexistence in empty nothingness. People reside in their living tissue as a thought process. When the tissue dies the thought process ceases to be and evaporates to disorganized electrons that get recycled to become parts for other things. No fantasies survive this process.
The body and the sense of self are fragile and temporary, like waves on the ocean. After a wave plays out though, the sea remains.
We are not our thoughts. Our essence is in the background, all-pervasive conscious awareness.
Most people I know can't even remember when they were 5! I have many memories of way before that all the way to my second birthday and probably before.
My Mother really made an impression on me so I remember a lot more than some people do about childhood. She was insane and in the middle of raising 8 children when I was her child. When I left the house of proper age I ran lol. When I met her again as an adult I was surprised to see how nice she was without all of the stress that was imposed on her and came to the understanding - never have a lot of kids. it ruins a lot of things. But the pope didn't allow birth control so he did this to many catholic families to build his worthless empire of fantasies burdened children that would give him tithing money when they became adults. My immediate family has never been in one place at one time ever. One brother left before the last sister arrived and then my dad died and that made it impossible.