Five-minute free writes, Day 24 - "Different"

Coming from a large family with four pretty smart, engaged siblings, it always amazes me how different our memories of growing can be.  I understand that birth order plays a large role in this phenomenon, but that's not all that's at work here.

Given the pretty unusual way we grew up, basically helter-skelter, kids take care of themselves and each other, hands-off parenting, etc., etc., I suppose it's not surprising that some of us have even fabricated (or at least edited a bit) memories that I, as the oldest, know to have never happened.  These tend to lean towards the romantic side, infusing childhood with a nostalgic glow that isn't really accurate - at least from where I sit.

HOWEVER - is this a bad thing?  It irritated me immensely when I was younger and more stubborn and, yes, more pedantic. (I'm the oldest. 'Nuff said.)  It certainly doesn't hurt anything, and there's no particular value in being right about something that really doesn't matter.  So I just let it go.

If I were to be completely honest, I might even have to admit that I do a bit of this myself.  It's hard to tell what is actual memory, and what is finally viewing memories from an adult context and with the gentling, soothing balm of time.