@Chrisis your analogy isn't correct :
To take your analogy, it's like you start walking on a banana peel and finish on a banana peel (cause the ground is the same at the start and the finish).
So yes you lost some momuntem because at the start but you can easily still gain enough momentum to slip on the second one.
@Mangareader : what does this difference change? Because for me this "biggest difference" isn't even one : both were the weakest in their home. One was a home of 2 people, the other was a village. But in the end it doesn't change anything.