The Difference in Perspective

I had lunch with a colleague today, and we discussed the fact that children in the same family grow up with different perspectives of the same thing.  If you think about this, it makes sense.  There is usually a time span between the oldest and youngest child.  In my family, the time frame is 10 years.  

There have been multiple times, over the years, when we talk about family activities, and my youngest brother will make the comment that he does not remember that, or will say something like "Where was I?"  Well, he may have been there, but he was so young, that he does not recall the event, or recalls it very differently.

That's okay.

But, it adds an interesting twist to nature vs. nurture...  We hear comments about children who grow up in the same family who turn out differently, and that is an argument for nature not nurture.   But think about it seriously.  Every child's experience in the family is very different.  Each child my feel differently about how parents relate to them.  Each child may have different experiences in school, socially, with family members. So of course, each child brings something different to their memories of the same events...

And, it gives us something to think about, and be sensitive about:  each of us brings our own load to each event in our life....

Part of this discussion included that we felt each generation had its own "Pearl Harbor."  9/11 is one such example... The shooting of JFK is another.  This is an interesting concept...