Health & Fitness
What was I saying?
I spent an awful lot of time trying to remember what we were just talking about. But it doesn't stop me from talking, does it?
So, there I was, naked and dripping in the shower, a towel ten feet away in friend Lynne’s long bathroom. And yes, there was a towel hook next to the shower.
John is forever reminding me. “Reminding” is our code word for nagging. If he got to proof these prior to my posting them he’d defend himself by saying he has to remind me or crazy things happen—and he’s right. Without his reminding I would plan a dinner party for the night I’m supposed to be doing colonoscopy prep. Or I’d tell three different couples they could spend the holidays when I have only two spare bedrooms.
And this is me on a good day. It was much worse when I had chemo-brain.
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John: We’re going to that potluck Saturday, remember?
Me: Oh. Right.
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John: You said you’d bring your cheese potatoes.
Me: Oh. Right.
John: Do you have the ingredients?
Me. Oh. No.
He would work out a plan for us to get the ingredients and help me schedule the time to begin cooking. He’d patiently go through his mental checklist as often as it took to get me dressed and out the door, potatoes in hand. (Note: My cheese potatoes are spectacular. And I do share recipes.)
Our Middle Child worked a college summer job with her father’s company and they rode to work together. One day she came home saying, “Mom! Why does Daddy keep reminding me of things over and over? Why does he treat me like I’m four years old?”
I pondered a moment. “Well, he’s lived with me for a very long time.”
Just then John walked in saying, “Honey, you have a dentist appointment tomorrow so we’ll have to drive separately.”
Middle Child said, “I know I have a dentist appointment tomorrow! I made the appointment! Why do you remind me of things over and over?”
John pondered a moment. “I’ve lived with your mother for a very long time.”
Back to me, naked and dripping in Lynne’s shower. (I know, you didn’t want that image in your head the first time, much less again, but you probably needed a reminder.) I stepped out onto the shower rug and shuffle-slid across the cold tile. And the next morning I actually remembered to hang the towel on the hook. Sometimes I amaze myself.
How about you? The memory of an elephant, or of a … Wait. Is there an opposite of an elephant’s memory? If so, I forget.