The Children Who Remember Past Lives

[no_hypocrisy]

84. While I don't entirely believe this theory, here's my story:

When I was about six, my second grade teacher read our class two fairy tales that startled me: Thumbelina and The Six Wild Geese. Both had subplots whereby Thumbelina was compelled to marry a frog against her will (she escaped) and a king had to agree to marry the daughter of a witch in order to get out of a forest. A forced marriage haunted me throughout the years.

Decades later, I learned that my father's mother was forced by her brother to marry my grandfather. The marriage was a disaster as it started on a scandal: my grandfather was betrothed to another woman for 3+ years (1900) and jilted her to marry my grandmother, whom he never met. The jilted bride literally read about the marriage in the newspaper the morning of the ceremony and sued for Breach of Promise.

I've wondered why I had such a visceral reaction to forced marriage and now wonder about whether there was an imprint on me. I discount it logically, but yet . . . . .