Fuzzy Memories

First, allow me to give you a snapshot of a moment in time, one that shows the relative ages of myself and my siblings the year Michelle was born. Geri, Judy, Michelle, and I are involved in this story.

Geri, 22
Mary, 20
Jim, 18
Tom, 16
Tim, 14
Dennis, 12
Me, 10
Judy, 7
Michelle, baby

It also helps to know that my mom is a bit of a pack rat. She's a Depression Baby, so she was recycling before the word was coined. For example, the basement has a shelf with something like 200 butter tubs, deli trays, Cool-Whip containers, etc. on it, so whenever Mom offers us anything in the house, we say "Thanks!" just to get it out of there.

So, Michelle calls me one day last week and says (in a hushed tone), "You've got to help me! I'm at mom's, and she's trying to give me this Nativity set that I guess is the one we had when we were kids, and I don't want it. Do you want it?"

"Oh, no. That can't be. Mom gave me our Nativity set years ago."

"Well she says this is it."

"I'm pretty sure I have it in my basement. I'll go look." I run down the stairs and confirm it. "Yup. It's right here. I'm sure it's the one we had when we were kids, though the figurines don't seem right."

"That makes no sense " Michelle puzzled. "I'll take a picture of the one she gave me and send it to you." Here's what she sent."That looks nothing like mine," I said. "Mine has no gravel on the roof; it has this fake moss stuff on it. I'll send it to you." Here it is:Michelle and I laughed at Mom's obvious memory loss. She had a great idea. "Just to be fun, I'll send this to everyone else in the family and see who can tell us which one is the real version of our family's nativity set." I was game. She sent the following message:

Please vote. Is this the manger scene from our childhood? Mom says it is, but Barb has one that Mom told her is the one from our childhood, too. Mom is trying to give one of us a knock-off! Which one could it be? Or maybe they are both knock-offs?

Before the day was out, we received a response from Judy. Judy said she got a manger scene from Mom years ago, with the story that it was the one we had when we were little. She felt confident that hers was "the" manger scene. Here's hers:To add to the mystery, Geri soon sent an email with this photo, of a nativity she received from our grandpa years ago; yet another manger scene "from our childhood."Okay, Mom. What's the true story? We've got you backed into a corner....what's the story? And what is with the paint swipes on three of them?!