When Your Favorite Memory Actually Never Happened

I'm teaching memoir writing to my students, and I instruct them to choose a "tiny moment" to recount for the class. Just a few nights before, I share with my friend about my memoir lessons, and he says, "My favorite memory actually never happened."

He explains what he means. I encourage him to write the story, and to my great delight, he does.

He writes, "I'm not delusional about this memory--I know it never happened, but it feels as real as if it had. In fact, it seems more real than some memories which actually happened. Brains are so funny sometimes."

I'm fascinated.

He recounts a memory he wished he had with his grandfather. He wished it so deeply that it became real to his mind. The writing shimmers, so go ahead and enjoy this "tiny moment" memoir (just 800 words) over at his blog.

Here's the memory that never happened. 

Meanwhile, I love hearing various tiny moments from students today. It turns out that the tiny moments have the biggest impact. We go around the room and simply finish the sentence, "One time I. . . ".  I tell them to recount the moment that first comes to mind.  

For me, it was nearly falling through the ice on a river. 

Now, I have to figure out why I remember it first and what it means to me. 

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What if you wrote your "tiny moment" today?