Would you hand your kids a magic telescope that lets them see you as you were in college?

My dearest and most beloved friend from college (L.) passed away six years ago. Two weeks ago I received a visit from her now-grown daughter and her own children. Now the daughter is asking me for stories about her mother.

I don’t know what the young woman already knows from those early days or how much my friend L. might have meant to keep to herself, but I do know she liked to be private about a lot of things. I’m sure L. didn’t anticipate—who would?—being absent when her adult daughter and I talked.

Would I want my children to hear a vivid first-hand impression of me as a college student? I don’t know. Would she? Would you?

Not that it was anything to conceal but only that we are so young and raw at that stage and the last thing on our minds is how we might look if a time machine sent our future children to peep into our lives.

QUESTION: Would you want your best friend from college helping your children to a portrait of you as a youth?

In your answer, please indicate whether this is hypothetical for you in the sense that college is not in your past and/or you don’t have kids.