[MorganGrayson]

That, frankly, is my definition of hell. One of the greatest gifts humans have ever been given is the ability to forget.

There is an episode in my life that is so painful and vivid that discussing it today, some 30 years later, will reduce me to shaking tears. I once asked a doctor when I'd be able to forget. He said I never would, that my aim was to put it in perspective. It struck me as the emotional equivelent of "don't think about elephants."

An entire life like that? I think I would have bit down on the cyanide pill a very long time ago.

Chris...be careful what you wish for. You aren't going to want to remember *every* minute. I still wish I could get the mental image of my sobbing youngest, who, at the age of two took a header down the back concrete steps. My husband brought her in, and with every ounce of strength I had I removed the bloody mass from her mouth. I thought she'd bitten off her tongue...but she'd had a mouthful of graham cracker when she fell. She's 24 now...and she wishes she could forget it, too. (I also wish I could forget the image of my mother, the coward, flinging herself backwards out of the room so that she didn't witness any of that. I never quite forgave her despite coming to understand and accept that some people are strong and some people aren't.)

All my kids have had days/weeks/years that I'd like to forget. It hurts like hell to be a kid...and it hurts even worse to be the parent of a kid that hurts like hell.

I think high school should be outlawed, frankly.