2 + 2 = 7

Today was Dad's day for taking pieces of his personal history, scrambling it, and coming out with pure fiction.

Reality: Dad was stationed in England in World War II. He traveled to and from England on the Queen Elizabeth. He never set foot on continental Europe. In later life, the only time he left the US (except for Mexico and Canada) was a brief trip to the European continent while I was in college. Mom was not interested in traveling with him, so she stayed home--in Dallas.

His version:

"I went on a tour around the world. That's what I wanted to do, so that's what I did. That was true of me."

"I went on a boat around the world. We went to Burma and India. That was true of me."

"My wife did not want to go on the boat around the world, so she stayed with her sister in New York for a visit. That was true of her. She loved her sister very much and wanted to visit with her."

"Our boat stopped and visited ports all around the world. That was true of us."

"My children stayed with their aunt in New York. That was true of them."

He also told a fractured story about meeting Mom. What was the most interesting was not what he said (right and wrong) but the way he shifted points of view. First he told the story from his own viewpoint, in a general way with no audience in particular. Then he told it as if he were Mom speaking to my brother and me. He called himself "my husband". Finally, he told the same story from his mother's viewpoint as if she were speaking to Mom. He called himself "my son".

Very strange...