His, Hers, & Truth

I have a friend who occasionally quotes the saying, "There are three sides to every story: his, hers, and the truth." I always thought it was a lesson about lying, but recently, I've changed my opinion on this matter.

And it all started with a 4th of July story.

I called my dad and asked him what he and my mom did for the holiday. His story went something along the lines of this: "Well, we went out to the lake and watched the fireworks. Then we sat on the patio and watched the neighbors shoot off their fireworks." I accepted this story, and even found it cute that they did these things together and thought about how thankful I was that my parents still liked spending time together after 28 years.

Then I called my mom.

Her story went a little something like this (abridged version): "Oh lord, Chesney. I didn't think we were going to make it. First, it was this ridiculous back and forth about going, and then again about what car to take. The fireworks already started before we were halfway there. He moved the truck after we already parked, and when it was time to go, he drove without his glasses because he claimed he could see better without them!"

Cue my ridiculous laughter.

I love my parents, that goes without saying. From what I know of them, the "truth" of this story is probably a mixture of both their sides, as it usually is. My parents have never claimed to have the perfect marriage, but a strength of their relationship is their ability to mix two very different people into a couple that works. Dad likes to tell things straightforward, and Mom likes to tell it how it "really was". I don't know why it works, but it does, and who am I to question the fates?

They provide a great perspective to work with.

When it comes to writing stories, one of the most difficult things to do is write from the perspective of a person that you aren't comfortable writing. It would be easy to write a story with an all female cast because writing like a girl is not difficult for me, but that would also be a very boring story. (Come on, we all love boys in stories...they add the drama, right?) One thing that I loved about writing my story was that I got to experiment with several different perspectives, and I was able to create an ensemble of people that strengthened my story line.

Stories like my parents' retelling of their 4th of July help me with my perspectives.

I realize that the quote from the beginning really is true. I still think it is about lying, but I also know it is about the way people look at and view situations. As for me, I listen to stories for the emotions they can stir in a person. I think that it is important to hear all sides of a story because you never know what you are going to get from it. Who knows, a side may just end up written into one of my stories as so many perspectives have already been...

But only I know the truth about that.