CJ's World

“That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet,” so says Juliette. Well said Shakespeare, a word is just what we call something, we have no common agreement as to what the word means.

But first, you have to remember the name. And this is where my problems begin. Remembering names is a long standing personal shortcoming. It’s a particular embarrassment to me now living in my new community as I meet new neighbors.

Experts say memory loss, especially short term memory is unavoidable with age. But I refuse to believe these so-called authorities until I have proof.

Knowing and believing how important it is to use a person’s name, as a professor I resorted to jotting down clues as my students introduced themselves: freckled, odd glasses, toe tapper, mouthy, flat nose, jock, diva, mousey, etc. One day, my carefully curated list went missing. I was mortified. That didn’t actually happen, losing the list that is, but I would have been chagrined.

More recently, I experienced difficulties remembering my newborn granddaughter’s full name. This despite her middle name mimicking my own. In my defense, her name and preferred nickname is comprised of 28 letters with 4 spaces. I resorted to writing it down 100 times, making a permanent memory rut in my brain.

Here’s to all of you gifted with good memories and/or well developed memory techniques. Please have mercy on the rest of us.

[Talking of roses reminds me of my mother’s devotion to her rose garden, throughout all seasons, even in pouring rain. I never understood this until I became a parent and developed my own escapism to process my daily life.]