Today …

A.  I forget people’s names.  When I first meet them, I write down their names in my phone, with the vague hope that I’ll study them later.  But I don’t … and then I see them again – now nameless.

B.  I forget the names of objects.  Imagine something that contains other things.  In the moment, when I’m looking at the thing, I can’t locate what’s it’s called.  Is it a box, basket, can, jar, bottle, bin, bowl, carton, bucket … or what?  (I cheated just now.  I Googled “names of containers”.

When I’m in a conversation, and one of those objects is the subject at hand, I usually retreat to “container”, since that’s all my brain creates.

C.  I forget what I’m saying … even in the middle of a sentence.  It just takes a tiny distraction, and the topic at hand disappears.  I’ve shared this with good friends, and they kindly get me back on track, telling me what we were talking about.

***

I’m smiling as I write this.  I’m done with pooping on myself because my body or mind isn’t living up to youthful standards.  It’s an immense waste of energy.  I have better things to do.

Tomorrow will be “Forgetting: Part Two”, a different slant on the subject – a focus on something far more important than forgetting someone’s name.