A fair division of objects cannot divide memories with the same precision.

GRATITUDE

WHAT THIS MEANS

You can make the columns balance and still leave everyone feeling short-changed. Objects have values that can be listed and matched; what they carry does not, because a chipped mug can hold more of a person than a valuable clock. So an arrangement that is scrupulously fair by weight can be badly unfair by meaning, and no amount of careful arithmetic will fix it. The two systems simply do not convert.

Before dividing anything, ask each person which one or two items they would actually miss. Settle those first, by conversation rather than by value, and let the arithmetic handle whatever is left over.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

What did fairness fail to settle when your family divided belongings?

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