"... And you will, too."

Caveat:  when I write about my experiences, whatever the context, it's never out of my mind that's all that I'm doing ~ sharing MY experiences, my sense of whatever.  

Every human who's ever lived has remembered certain things, forgotten most.  However well documented, our recollections are intrinsically flawed.  Which explains why our memories are inherently more fiction than fact.  

Am reminded of a story that Mom liked to recollect, something that came up on one of her extended stays Down Under with Mike & Kerry.  As Mom told it, Kerry was often openly critical of her parenting skills.  Being Mom, she kept her silence.  Apparently, though, it finally got to be too much, even for her.

"Kerry," Mom recalled telling my s-i-l, "I swore when I became a parent that I'd never make the same mistakes my Mother made.  And I didn't.  I made my own.  And you will, too."

Have always held onto that bit of maternal wisdom - "And you will, too."  

For every less-than-complimentary memory I have of family members, it's a good bet that they have plenty of me, too.  For every  event that I remember one way with crystal clarity, the chances are they have very different, equally clear memories of the same moment in time.

Being considerably younger than Peter, Mike & Mim, I spent a lot of time observing them, not noticing the things that went well as much as those that seemed to go awry,  swearing I'd never make those mistakes.  

And, for the most part, I haven't.  I've made my own.