My plan was working. I had fixed a nice dinner, served it to Brent with a flourish, and then turned my sweetest smile on him. “Honey, would you mind taking me to the library?” I had been in the hospital a few days for minor-ish abdominal surgery. This was way back in the day, before we had any sweet baby angels to keep me busy (that is, either of those two rascals we raised. Don’t tell them I said that.) Now that I was out from under the fog of anesthesia and pain meds, I needed some Post-surgery reading. Since I couldn’t drive yet, Brent was elected. Anyway, the local library was only about a mile away.

After a week of inability to focus on more than a couple of paragraphs at a time, I looked forward to reading real books again. Brent was kind enough to carry the pile of fiction as I amassed it. We were heading for the checkout desk when a non-fiction title caught my eye: How to Improve Your Memory. It seemed to call my name–perhaps because I may have occasionally (ahem!) forgotten a few things–so I snagged it on my way past.

We plumped the books onto the checkout desk, the Memory book on top of the stack. It took several minutes of rummaging through my purse to realize — and then admit — that I had forgotten my library card. With remarkable restraint, Brent did not complain. He settled for just heaving a little sigh and tapping his finger on the top book before getting out his car keys.

Rather than risk having my books re-shelved, we decided I would stay put and baby-sit them. Brent carried them to a chair for me, and I sat down and got comfy while he went home to retrieve my library card. Might as well read… in the circumstances it should come as no surprise that I opened up How To Improve Your Memory.

Years later, I still hear about that little episode from time to time. Well, yeah… I’m still absent-minded enough to provide frequent reminders of it.

On an unrelated note, the other day I went on an online book-shopping spree. One title came up that I could not possibly resist: Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything. It’s by… um… Joshua somebody…

Today I got the alert that the book has been shipped and will arrive one day next week.

If you should place bets on whether or not I’ll remember to bring it into the house and read it, please… just don’t tell me.

Thanks for reading!
Jan

PS: Come have a cup of coffee with Rachel Anne and friends at Company Girl Coffee. It might even enhance memory. (Save me a mugful!)
jj