Trina Machacek: Memory-schmemory

“Stick with me here. I may at any time get lost or forget what I was talking about.” That my friends near and far is becoming the opening line between my friends and myself. It hasn’t always been that way.

It started about the same time we started to hear snap, crackle and pop as we got off the couch. But! Yes, a “what was I saying?” but. For the most part we laugh at each other. Yes, we laugh and laugh then ask, “What’s so funny again?”

This memory thing, and the loss thereof, seems to have no boundaries. Friends in their 40s are just as likely to forget that doctor appointment or time of the dinner party as someone in more mature years.

The cool thing though is that when you are 40 you have no excuse to fall back on. If your kids start to look at you funny when you forget things in your 40s you better never say something like, “That “retirement” home grandma is in is sure nice, isn’t it?” you may find you are moving there before you can say Jack Robin – uh.

Well, whatever the Jack saying is. You can rest assured “we” will not forget the important stuff. The day our Social Security check is deposited in our bank account. What time the Senior Citizen lunch is served. BINGO DAY!

Those are just a few of the open spots left in our overly used brains. Then again, there are other things that without a grandparent, great-grandparent or just an over 60 parent you would miss. Like if your family has a car guy in there somewhere.

Who are you going to call to find out the wheelbase on a ’64 Mustang — just in case you might want to buy one and will it fit in that last corner of your garage? If you are lucky enough to still smack your lips at the thought of Saturday biscuits and gravy at home – we never forget a homemade recipe.

These things and so much more will always be available to share. No, it’s the mundane stuff where we have no problem laughing that we have forgotten. I read a thingy the other day that said something to the effect that we can remember our phone numbers from when we were kids, but our passwords are only remembered if they are 12345.

HAHA. As per my go to pal, Google, “The average adult human brain's memory capacity is 2.5 million gigabytes. However, it doesn't run out of storage capacity, per se. A single human brain has many different kinds of memories. And there’s no limit to the number of memories we can store.”

I agree, it is however the ability to bring forth the knowledge of our mature years that slips from time to time. A funny friend and I have this thing we giggle at when we are on the phone and the topic comes up about going somewhere after the phone call.

We both say, do you have your shoes on – and uh your pants! Funny and I hope I never fall to the point that I actually have to look down to see that my pants are actually on! But it could happen.

Dementia and other scary and devastating memory fighting illness aside, (They are devastating, and I would never make light of their aftermath.), there are many ways to keep the ole brain chugging away.

There are lots of over-the-counter pills to take, loads of au-natural goodies to buy and try. At this mature age we all seem to have a pharmacist in our pocket. Hopefully a trustworthy one that will tell you that $50-plus a month for a zippity new memory pill is not worth it.

Or a friend that swears by the great memory magic of coffee made from beans that first go through a monkey’s butt doesn’t really do anything for memory — but is sure taste yummy. NOT! Word of mouth has gotten us this far, stick with what and who you know.

Not long ago. Maybe it was long ago, and I just think it is not very long ago. Oh well. Sometime ago I saw my dad go through some short-term memory loss. Yes, it was hard. But hard on us, his family. Shoot, he was just as happy as a clam in sand at life.

Things that bothered him for years just didn’t occur to him any longer. After many years of heavy handedness, things seemed to become rainbows and lollipops.

If you find your memory has slipped a cog or two, know that you could possibly be just one hot cup of monkey butt coffee away from your very own island of rainbows and lollipops.

Trina Machacek lives in Diamond Valley north of Eureka. Email itybytrina@yahoo.com.