Childhood memories and telling stories about those memories can sometimes lead to either an awful or hilarious awakening, depending on which story you might be telling. On more than one occasion, after having gone through life telling stories from my childhood to countless people, I will relay a story in front of an older family member or other witness to the actual event. To my horror or embarrassment, that person will say, “It wasn’t like that at all! Here’s how that story went…” Or worse still, “You weren’t even there!”
Sometimes, especially if you’re the youngest child in a family, you will see things from a whole different perspective and come away with a completely different version of the same event. The other thing that happens is that, as the youngest, I heard everyone else tell stories so often, that I’m convinced that I was actually there and witnessed the event, when I wasn’t there at all. But in my mind’s eye, I can clearly see the whole thing taking place in vivid detail and remember who said what!
The mind is an amazing and complicated thing. Make good memories with your family and cherish them always. Most of them are actually real! Now that I’m getting older, I walk into a room to get something and I forget what it was that I wanted. That’s a topic for another day!
Proverbs 3:1 (NLT) - “My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart.”