Oral history as a source, however, is no less reliable than any document we might consult. All sources are prone to errors and discrepancies, even those carved in stone. If you've traced your ancestors in all censuses for their lifetimes, you know what I'm talking about: Census records have inconsistencies and errors from one enumeration to another.

Yes, one person's version of an event will differ from another's. My separate interviews of two brothers are a good example: When I asked the first brother if his mother was the emotional type, he responded, “Oh, yes. She cried over everything.” When I asked the same question of the second brother, he responded, “No, she didn't cry very often.” I had to pause the interview to laugh because the versions were so different. It's all about a person's perception. The first brother perceived his mother as being emotional; to the other, she wasn't. Maybe she let her guard down with one and not with the other. Or maybe the first brother found it so upsetting to see his mother cry that it made a bigger impact on him.