Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Blocked memory

 My Aunt Leona - the beloved matriarch of our family - related a story to Miriam today about how badly abusive her parents were. Basically, on the night of her graduation Mom was beaten so badly that her boyfriend (future husband) removed her from the house and took her to stay with her best friend Miriam. (That my sister is named Miriam is not a coincidence.)

They were both 17 and in 1952 there was no protective service. Dad, as I alluded to in his eulogy, literally rescued Mom from an abusive household. 

Dad turned 18 and Mom turned 18 on August 11. Mom and Dad were married that day.

As Miriam told me what Leona had said I thought, "Umm, I knew this. Mom had told me this. Why on earth would I have forgotten that? (There was a piece of info in the story about Dad's father trying to help that I absolutely had never heard before.)

So we all know memory is a tricky thing. When your mother, your father (revealed after we resolved our differences) and aunt all tell the same story? It's fact. 

That I had that memory blocked says something about me... 

Anyhow, I'm now ready to finish Mom's eulogy and it will be done tomorrow. 

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