I’ve always remembered breaking my right thumb as a kid, partly because it made writing difficult at school and the thumb stayed stiff. Recently I noticed that my left thumb has the limited movement and a bump instead. I’m going to look for an old X-ray, but the mismatch is unsettling. How would you make sense of a memory like this?
Could I really have remembered which thumb I broke wrong?
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mox~!el
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Memory can feel completely certain without every detail being accurate, especially after a long time. The school accommodations may be a solid memory while the hand itself got swapped in your recollection. If you find the X-ray, that could help settle it, but without a record there may not be a way to know for sure.
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Before treating this as a mystery, compare both hands in good light and check whether the bump and stiffness are actually on the same thumb. An old injury can leave changes that are easy to overlook, and ordinary differences between hands can also become more noticeable once you start comparing them closely.
If there’s new pain, swelling, or a change in movement, a clinician can assess it. If nothing has changed recently, tracking down the image sounds like a reasonable next step.
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Could someone who remembers that period help confirm which hand was injured? A family member, old school paperwork, or the X-ray might give you an independent clue. I wouldn’t push yourself to solve it immediately, though. Not finding an answer right away doesn’t mean anything unusual happened.
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mox~!el:
That’s probably the most sensible explanation. The writing trouble is what makes the side feel so firmly attached in my mind.