A recent trip to my doctor confirmed what I already knew. I have CRS; Can't Remember – Stuff. What was I saying? Oh-- now I remember. The signs had been there for some time. I enter a room and forget why I went in there in the first place. I loose my train of thought in the middle of a conversation, or forget a person’s name just as I am about to utter it. 

It happened again recently as I shopped for groceries. There I was rolling my cart down an aisle in Kroger. For once all 4 wheels rolled in the same direction. Life was good. Then it happened.

Entering an aisle, I suddenly forgot what I was looking for. Perusing my list was no help. The shelves were no help either, as they were stocked high with items that seemingly had no relationship to one another. One side contained flour, sugar and cooking oil. Was I planning to bake a cake? 

The opposite side had everything one needed for pasta. Frustrated, I suddenly noticed a young woman in her early thirties staring at me like she thought that I was about to shoplift some tomato products. With a smug look that is only found on the young, I knew what she was thinking, ‘Look at her; she forgot what she was looking for’.

Reaching up, I snatched down the first item I saw. With a loud, ‘Aha there it is’, I put the item in my cart and rolled over to the next aisle.  Furtively looking around, I put the item that I had picked up back on one of the shelves. I still couldn’t remember what I was looking for. Although I knew that it was not pickled artichokes.

I have discovered that not remembering things can sometimes be hazardous to a person's health. Case in point. One morning as I was brushing my teeth I remembered that I still needed to respond to an inquiry from a colleague from the day before. So thinking that I had better do it while it was on my mind, I dialed the number that I thought that I knew from memory: a big mistake. After the first ring, I realized that I had misdialed.

Five minutes later my phone rang. It was a woman’s voice on the other end, asking me if I had called there. As I started to say no, I remembered my wrong number. Hers apparently. I apologized for my mistake, and for most likely waking her up, as it was 7:00 in the morning. I don’t know if she believed me or not. But all day long, I could not help thinking that some poor guy probably caught you know what, all day long. 

Still while some days I draw a blank on how to spell simple words like 'the', I have no problem spelling Martini or Scotch. Go figure.  However, I try to remember to do unto others the way that I want others to do unto me. Remembering everything else is well-- like pickled artichokes.