Remember When?

It’s interesting, really, how memory can play games with you.  I have a memory… I won’t claim it’s a strong memory… of being told by my mother how hot it was when I was born.  I also vaguely recall that I was born in the pre-dawn hours.  So, it’s hard for me to reconcile these two memories. 

The one claim, that I was born around 4 a.m., is easy enough to check out.  All I have to do is take a look at my birth certificate, which I’m pretty sure is in my files at home.

The second claim is equally easy to check out… was it a super hot day the day I was born?  Was it indeed the 104 degrees I recall – or think I recall – being told?

Alas, that claim is definitely not true.  It turns out that June 5, 1958, was a delightful day.  A little rainy, perhaps, medium winds.  And a high of 78 degrees.  That hardly fits my recollection of what others told me!

And yet, somehow, those two facts (which on their face appear to contradict each other) are kind of core facts I’ve always carried around.  That it was cool, not hot… or perhaps that I was born at 4 p.m. not 4 a.m…. that doesn’t really effect who I am or how my life has turned out.  Really they don’t impact me now, 53 years later, in any significant way. 

But, it’s odd to me.  Leads me to wonder about other things I THINK I recall.  That super sharp memory of standing in the front yard, holding Dad’s hand… at less than two years of age?  Is that real?  I know I was less than 2, ’cause I was in my diapers.

Or the time I rode into Messina at the head of a conquering army?  Was that real???? No, that one I’m pretty sure of…