Struggling to Remember the Little Things

As we get older we often blame any memory issues on our advanced age which more often than not has little to do with that. It’s usually just a case of having a lot on our minds.

Where did we leave the keys? What did I do with my cell phone? What time is that meeting I have today? We often laugh at ourselves over these routine lapses or just as likely have to endure the teasing of others and this is not to be confused with the serious medical problems that many face as they get older.

Not to make any excuses (which I guess I am) but I have a lot of things going on and VERY often forget little things during the course of the day. Often my wife will leave notes for me in the morning as a reminder and that’s helpful although I sometimes put the note in my pocket and don’t see it until the end of the day when it’s too late to do what I was supposed to.

However my real issue when it comes to this is putting names and faces together which I can at least partly blame on the fact I meet a lot of people under different circumstances. It’s not unusual for me to engage in conversation with someone who clearly knows me while I have no idea who they are.

I look for hints which sometimes leads me in the right direction but often I walk away totally confused and perplexed. My wife insists the proper thing to do is apologize and admit I forget their name but I just can’t bring myself to do that so I just try and bluff my way through. I mean if the situation was reversed I would feel awful if someone who I thought should know me said “excuse me but I don’t remember your name.”

I’d probably walk away mumbling something about what a jerk they were.

There is something else to add into the equation. I guess there have been many instances in which my bluffing was obvious and the other person knew all along I forget who they were. I wonder what they mumbled when they walked away.