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I’m always amazed when I ask my older brother (3.5 years older) about something from our shared childhood and his memory of the incident is so different than mine. It’s a happy moment when we both have the same take on something, but it’s been a rare moment as well. Taught me a lot about how I see my raising as my specific experience, and not that of his or my younger sister (2 years younger).

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Yeah, that's why we can only write our OWN stories. Even if we wrote it down immediately after an event happened, everyone take would be different. I've used that as an exercise about "truth-telling" in a memoir writing class. Very enlightening. My brother who's two years older has very little memory of our childhood so we don't get into too many disagreements about it. That makes it easier! Of course, I know what really happened anyway! LOL!

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Thank you for sharing both the joy Ned the pain of the memory. You are so correct that memories—that we hold within— make us who we are. What a great friend you had/have.

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No kidding, right? I regret that we didn't stay connected over the years but what a blessing it has been to reconnect.

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Your memory is your reality, and it's what contributed to who you've become. That's what really matters, as Susan said so eloquently!

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Yes, that is true. Memory might not always be spot on, but it is what forms us into who we are.

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