Looking at an old photo again, we start arguing about that day all over again

A single photo pulled from a drawer brings what they thought was over back between the couple.

Scenes

We only pulled out one photo, but suddenly we're back in that day — On Sunday evening, taking an old photo from a moving box brings that day's argument back into their conversation.
I see the expression from that day, while my spouse sees a different scene — In the photo, one person stands apart from the group. One of them remembers being shut out; the other remembers only a moment spent off to the side.
It wasn't the photo so much as unfinished interpretations meeting again — A photo doesn't show everything that happened that day. Each person's memory fills in the unseen words and expressions, turning the same scene into something different.
In conflict mediation, we look at the photo and the memories separately — In conflict mediation, we first separate what is actually visible in the photo from the meaning each person added. Then, instead of asking who is right, we can begin to see what was different.
Looking at the photo, write down one fact and one memory — Today, write down one fact you can see in the photo and one memory of your own, separately. When you hold off on drawing conclusions, you can begin to see where the two scenes diverge.
Even if the memories don't match at once, a place to talk can still open up — Looking at the photo again won't make their memories match right away. Still, separating fact from interpretation can keep them from repeating an old scene only as today's fight.