I'll be talking to my daughter, and we'll be having a nice conversation, and then she'll ask me what I did yesterday.
Yesterday? I have no clue what I did yesterday.
But when I was six we went to Santa Claus, Indiana and rode the....Damn! What's the word I'm looking for? I think it starts with a "c." "C-o" maybe.
This is going to drive me crazy! I'm off to the dictionary. There are 44 pages of "c-o" words in Webster's Collegiate. All small print. Still, I can handle it. My finger scrolls down the list and then stops. I've forgotten what I was looking for.
I remember when I was ten and decided to read all the words in the dictionary. I got as far "asparagus" and stopped. I hated asparagus. It was mushy, and an ugly olive green color, and had these strings that stuck in your teeth.
But I don't need to remember that! I love asparagus now. All I need to remember is not to overcook it and not to buy it in a can. Delete, delete, delete!
I need to delete all this useless information rolling around in my memory so I have room for what I did yesterday.
I don't need to know where all the McDonalds with playgrounds are located in St. Louis. I don't live in St. Louis anymore and my youngest kid is 27. Time to delete.
And, yes, Clinton brought some shame to the presidency. I remember all the details. Everyone else seems to have forgotten it.Why shouldn't I? Delete.
How to diagram sentences? Pfft! I could do it in my sleep. All the while remembering Mrs. Elliott standing in front of the class in her jersey dress telling us how important it was. But, really, I've become quite comfortable with dangling participles. Delete.
My first grade teacher's name? I don't need to remember that. I can always make one up. If a classmate remembers it differently and I stick to my guns, they'll just blame it on their own bad memory. Delete.
"Guns don't kill people. People kill people." Delete. Delete. Delete. I don't want to hear that one ever again.
How good the chicken at Chick-fil-A tastes? I'm pretty sure I can delete. Because it's never going to taste that good again.
All those slogans from the '60's like "Give Peace a Chance" and "Make Love Not War"? They don't seem to be of much use these days. Delete.
And while I'm at it, I need to get rid of all those words like "neat" and "groovy" and "bummer" and "nifty." When's the last time I used them? Well, okay, I'll keep "neat." The rest go.
Things are looking clearer already. I'm pretty sure the word I was looking for was "colossal." A few more deletes and I might even remember that I went shopping yesterday.
Whoa! That came out of nowhere--winded right through all that useless information and landed on center stage.
If only I could remember if I bought anything and where I put it.
Delete, delete, delete....
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Comments
Anyway, memory is a funny thing. I work at a Memory Center here with twenty people in one room all day who cannot remember a thing. Oh, they do have things in the past that they go back to over and over. Some are very sharp at word games and most know their names. But some know nothing. Alzheimer disease and strokes can take facts out of our minds like lightning.
However don't delete. Savor each detail and make more memories. You need to keep as much in your brain as you can to keep those synapses firing. Use it or lose it applies to all our damaged body parts.
Also you don't have to worry if you can't remember where you put your keys. You do have to worry if you can't remember what a key is.
So keep writing! That is the best thing you can do for you and for us!!!!
Geee. . . I was going to write something else, but it just escaped my mind. Darn !
R♥
Deborah--You're right. There should be a lot of extra space from where all the phone numbers were. I only know my own these days.
And don't get me started on passwords and user names.
zanelle--I actually agree with you on Clinton, but it does surprise me that he's been able to move so cleanly away from it.
Fusun--I'm pretty sure that I put a better spin on some of my memories. Like when I watched the Olympics and thought the times were just a few seconds faster than mine--probably not.
LammChops--It would be nice, wouldn't it.
V--It drives my daughter nuts that I don't know her phone number since she's had the same one for 11 years.
But a well-meaning advice.
Do never regret the deleting.
Because if you're going to ask yourself: what did I delete ...
... then you'll find yourself in very deep, hot water
So, never delete (the fate of) Lot's wife!
nilesite--I think you've got it wrong. If you can't remember, have steak. And dessert. There will be no guilt.
Erica--Oh, I mix up words too. But I've been known for doing that since my twenties, so I don't think there's any hope.
Matt--Always good to wake up with a clean mind.
Mary--I like how your mom thinks.
Laura--I'll let you keep "bummer" if you give up "truckin."
Alysa--If it's any consolation, I'm keeping all the 60's music.
Manhattan--You have to save the useful stuff, but sometimes it gets too crowded to find it.
Michele--4236. My 4th grad phone number. Some things just don't delete.
Delete the whole damn Bible, is what i say.
Y'know, a smart gal like you has probably read, like, hundreds
of books! Delete everything but the Literary Canon.
That will free up plenty of room.
I am deleting all those trashy Cinemax movies i watched
when i was a horny teenage boy!
James--Oh, you know Eljekar...I have to go to the encyclopedia for reference when I read his posts almost as many times as when I read yours. You're both too well read for me.
Cranky--I think I need to say thank you, but I've forgotten what for.
Libby--Thanks Libby. It's not world affairs, but at least I'm not deleting that information.