The Memory Game

THE MEMORY GAME

I have always prided myself on my memory. Not only was I able to easily memorize poems, speeches, and school lessons, I still remember a lot of them to this day, decades later. I can easily recall events that have long since been forgotten by others, right down to who was wearing what, what was served, and who said what to whom. Useless information, some of it, but it also came in handy. Friends would always say, "Ask Maria, she'll remember." I was the Queen of Memory, and proud to hold the title.

Over the years, something happened that has made me lose my memory crown. That something is called short-term memory loss, and tends to sometimes occur when one grows older. I can put up with the threads of gray weaving in my hair, the creaking joints, and the fact that most of today's music is a mystery to me, but my failing short term memory is the hardest to bear. I have become an absent-minded woman on the threshold of middle age, and the memory lapses have now become more noticeable. Alas…I have had to come to terms with the fact that I must relinquish my hold on that sparkling crown that I wore for so many years.

Then, hope loomed on the horizon. I heard of an herbal product called Gingko Biloba that was said to help improve the memory. I researched it, then bought it in pill form, as well as in a pleasant tasting tea. Gingko Biloba became my faithful companion for a time. No longer would I walk into a room and forget what I was in there for. No longer would I tell of events that I have already told, while my family patiently covered their bored yawns with their hands, pretending it was the first time they had heard the story. I was going to get my memory back!

I confided in my coworkers that I was taking this miraculous memory aid, and every few weeks they would ask me if it was working. I can't tell yet, I'd say, and they'd reassure me that it probably takes time. Meanwhile, I doubled the dosage and still didn't notice any difference.

In a few months, I had to replenish my stock, and noticed that a local store had it on sale. Off I went and put several months' supply in my shopping cart. When I got to the cashier, the pills wouldn't scan properly, and she was unable to find the price. "Do you know how much these were?" she asked. I thought for a moment and said, "I'm sorry, I don't remember." She looked at me for a moment and said with a grin, "I guess they're not working, are they?"

The pills now sit on the kitchen table and the tea has not seen my teapot in quite some time. One day a friend asked me if I was still taking "those memory pills".

"No," I answered her with a wry smile. "I keep forgetting to take them."

A little tarnish on that crown kind of gives it a distinguished look, don't you think?

Maria Harden
(c) 2001

Story ID:	282
Written by:	Maria Harden (bio, contact, other stories)
Story type:	Musings, Essays and Such
Location:	Winnipeg Manitoba Canada
Year:	2001
Person:	Maria