Is My Memory Your Memory?

Remembering things is very important to me.  I have some strange problems with mine.  I don't always remember who people are by looking at their face, unless it's someone I know really well.  There are some things I don't remember because I don't have any photographs of the event.  For example, I went to Hershey, PA when I was 22 with a friend and took pictures.  I was told that I was at Hershey, when my family took the trip east to Washington, DC, when I was 20, I think, taking in Pennsylvania 

on the way.  I didn't remember. I still don't.  I remember the pictures I took of my brothers at the Gettysburg battlefield, but I don't remember being at Hershey.  I was there. Surely, the 5 other members of my family are telling the truth; surely they didn't leave me behind at the motel.  And there's the matter of the sleep shirt with Hershey on it, that didn't appear out of thin air.  

The reason I've taken thousands of photos over the years, is that I'm afraid I'll forget something.  This blog was made for that reason, so I can put snippets of my memories on here, fondly thinking that someday my children will be interested in my past life.  I have written down somewhere, the story of my beginnings, someday that may go in here as well

The February 2021, Reader's Digest had a little article on memory.  We may think that our memories are true pictures of what really happened around certain events.  That isn't true.  Here are some excerpts from that article: "So, how does memory work?... it is something like an old man sitting by a campfire somewhere deep in your brain. He means well and wants to help, but he doesn't show you your past like some wizard with a time portal.  The best he can do it tell you stories.  And like all good story tellers, he edits for impact, efficiency, functionality and clarity.  He  tells you what he assumes you need to know. Some times he may even embellish the tale by adding a bit of flavor," whether it's true or not. "there is no consistent, orderly or rational sense to it.  It's not like a computer hard drive..." with orderly files.  "human memory is not reliable...It's a documentary at best....When you remember, your memory tells your brain a story, and much is lost in transit."

Memories can get smashed together or pieces left out.  It doesn't always appear when we want it. We tend to remember the good things better than the bad ones, and change the bad ones, to 'not so bad.'

What is included in this blog are my stories, the way I remember them.