You Mean I Wasn't at Woodstock?

I just read this great book ("Mistakes Were Made...But Not By Me!"). It talks about how our brains are wired to justify our thoughts and beliefs, including re-writing our memories (and creating new ones) as needed. It explains a lot of things in this world (including a great deal of the current presidential administration).

I was fascinated, but ultimately bummed out. You see, I may have to re-think a cherished childhood memory. I have a very clear recollection of a conversation I had with my brother and father, circa 1971. I was six, Stacy was nine. We were in my parents' bedroom on Rockwood Lane. It was mid-afternoon.

My father was talking to us about allowances. He told us that one of us could have an allowance of $1 a month and the other could have a quarter a week. My brother jumped at the dollar before I could say anything, and I had to settle for the quarter a week. Stacy was so smug that he got the better deal...until my dad explained that I was actually getting more total than he was ($13 a year to his $12).

It was one of the few times in my childhood where I outsmarted my brother. (Yes, I know, he technically outsmarted himself, but it's almost as good). I was getting a full dollar more a year, which, back circa 1971, was worth about $1.28.

I brought this up a few months ago to both my dad and Stacy. First they stared at me like I was crazy, then they denied it ever occurred, then they started poking holes in the story (it IS possible that a six year old and a nine year old would get the same allowance, dammit!)

After reading this book, though, I have to be open to the possibility that the vivid memory is completely false. I have to be open to the very real possibility that my cherished childhood memory of besting my older brother was actually constructed from a chapter from Encyclopedia Brown (or more likely the "Great Brain" books).

Which puts other memories at jeopardy. Perhaps I didn't date a super-model. Or climb Mt. Kilimanjaro (since I can't seem to remember where that is). Or even have fathered twin girls. Hmmmmm....a loophole?