Is this common?

My dad is 45-years-old and memories of him getting beaten as a kid just came up now. He never talked about it before and now that hes going through a rough time its all coming back to him suddenly. He was telling us all these horrible details and he said he never thought about until hes reached this point in his life.

Is this common for people who were abused not being remembered until an older age?

Yes, that is extremely common. See what happens is that the moment was so intense, they have no way to cope with it, so they black out.
Im sorry to hear about your dad.
You all stay strong

I have heard of that happening lots. That is awful. your poor dad. many people bear some terrible things in their lives that they never talk about. I think they just try to get through life being someone opposite of that person who did that to them...or unfortunately, they becaome that person without realizing it because thats what they have learned, and thats all they know. I think its good to talk about it. and its good to listen. I know you do a good job with that anyway though after reading your advice its just hard when its a parent because the parents role is so centered around the child we forgett that our parents need us too. just keep listening and loving

Sometimes people dissassocate painful memories.

It turns out our memories are not entirely dependable. We often forget things we don't want ot remember or imagine things we want to.

Your dad may be just now remembering something that was too painful for him to think about until now. It is also possible that he is remembering something that never happened.

remembering something that never happend? huh???

Yes, it is possible to remember things that never happened!

The mind is capable of doing strange things when it wants to 'protect' itself from hurtful memories. It is capable of 'twisting' events or substituting less hurtful memories in place of the actual memory. That doesn't mean that the real memory isn't there, only that it is covered up.

The reason your dad is remembering these things now is that something has occurred which has 'unlocked' the memory and brought it to the forefront of his mind. His subconscious now feels that he is capable of handling it now where he might not have been able to in the past.

I don't think she said it never happened to her dad, I think she said is it normal for someone to have those memories come back after all that time..If I read this correctly.

It is completely normal. Those kinds of memories usually come back at extremely high stress periods of life. Maybe he is extremely stressed out and that is causing the memories of his childhood to come forward from his subconcious