This node was an
A.Word.A.Day word back in July, but i had to let it ripen before it got noded.
Meaning two is "The inability to recall the correct meaning of a word" - i'm sure we can see this going on on a daily basis, right here!
However, meaning one: "A distortion of memory in which fact and fantasy are confused.". What is truth? This happens in small ways all the time. Were there really fifty people watching when you fell, or fifteen? Back in high school, they were entirely merciless. There was never a rainy day when he was around. Right? Right?
His reign was just. Everyone was happy.
Then there are those memories that are so vivid, they must be true: or a dream. My friend Alex told me of a memory of being in a car with his whole family, aunt and uncle and cousin, grandfather driving, when the car door flew open and suddenly everyone was reaching out and grabbing his grandfather amidst shouts of Oh Jesus! The door was slammed shut, and his grandfather had been wearing a seatbelt. Everything was fine. The car was still moving.
This was an unquestioned memory until he asked his mother about that time, and she denied it ever happened. His father denied it too. Several years later, Alex was in a bus accident on that very same stretch of road. This is true.
And i have this memory of running through swamps, barefoot, with my friend Heather. It's uncharacteristic for her to do this, but it's her backyard, her territory. I'm wondering what's on the bottom of the mud, which reaches halfway up my shins. I'm wondering where we're going, and if the roots will trip me. I'm wondering if the next step will be terribly deep. Everything is green.
If i still knew Heather i could ask her if this happened. But even if she didn't remember - does that mean it didn't happen?