Two of these frustrating incidents happened to me this week.
While I was skating, I was talking to my friend Bob who had worked his whole life in the Arctic. we find that we know many of the same people and then the conversation flows to events around these people.
When I got home, I began to think of a prominent northerner. This guy had been to my house in northern Quebec. He was well known so I knew who he was but had never met him. I couldn't get his name. I knew he was connected to Innuit printmaking and soapstone carving. I thought of other people who were prominent in this field. Yes, he was connected to Eskimo cooperatives. I thought one of my books had his picture. I looked. I found his photo but it didn't include a name. First names came to my mind but they didn't bring any results. Last names? They were people who were active in other related areas. I came up with their names.
I googled. I found photos but no name. Finally, I found the name and instantly many things bounced back into my head.
There was a write up about Peter Murdoch on one site. It was an article about him receiving the Order of Canada in late 2014! Wow! Peter had retired in 1997 after being in Northern Canada for fifty years.
I scrolled down to the next article only to find that it was his obituary. Peter died Dec.15, 2015.
So I spent a whole evening puzzling about Peter and finally found the information and it brought back much more.
A very pleasant lady works part time in the local library. I see her two or three times a year. Everytime I go home and I can't remember her name. Her husband was a highschool teacher. Her daughters went to the school I taught in. All of these things I can see in my mind...her husband, daughters , but I can't bring the name up. I go home and seriously start trying to remember the name. I think the name starts with H??? That doesn't lead anywhere. Then I think of somebody with a similar name and bingo, the name pops into my head.
So it's a frustrating situation. Why does it happen? In the first example I haven't heard much about Peter for the last 45 years. In the second situation I see the lady several times a year and talk about her kids and new grandchildren . She also know my children.
So as long as this doesn't get any worse I can live with it. Sooner or later the name does pop into my head.
How about you? Are some things difficult to retrieve from the old memory bank?
Happens to me all the time lately. It's so frustrating, and I usually remember the name at 3:00 in the morning as I'm tossing and turning trying to go back go sleep! :-)
ReplyDeleteStuff usually doesn't come to me at night.
Deleteyes, i have that memory block, too, even in my low 50s. :) when i can't think of a name, i start going thru the alphabet in my head and ponder on each letter as i proceed. sometimes it helps me pop the name into my head. sometimes i just have to wait it out. :)
ReplyDeleteI do the alphabet thing too. sometimes it works.
DeleteNames are the first things you forget I think. It is difficult but with my husband we help each other to get the name back in the head. Two know more than one!
ReplyDeleteI have trouble with authors and book titles. Yes, we try and help each other.
DeleteI am always forgetting thing's. I can often be standing at the bottom of the stairs, and can't remember if I was going to go up, or have just come down haha.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, that happens all the time. then I just go back where I came from and it pops back into my head.
DeleteAt my coffee group I lead a friend through many lost thoughts. Be proud, they are senior moments celebrating a life well lived. I laugh when the answer comes back to me, sometimes the next day.
ReplyDeleteYes, they are senior moments and they don't bother me but I'd like the dang answer.
DeleteIt's so normal, seriously! Names we don't use. Memories deeply embedded. I used to tell my students their filing cabinets were full.
ReplyDeleteI think my memory bank is full to but these I'm tying to pull out of storage.
DeleteIt happens to me too and I think it must happen to everybody here and there. It's so frustrating when you can recollect all the details except for the one you are looking for! I like what you say about getting much more information when that particular piece clicks into place, it is often connected somehow with other details we don't remember readily.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure this happens to almost everybody. If you look at the comments everybody seems to experience the same thing.
DeleteA very familiar story. It's annoying but then I try to forget about it and often the name pop back into my consciousness later...:)
ReplyDeleteIt's weird how different things seem to trigger the name to come up. It's always a big surprise.
DeleteNot yet, but in thirty or forty years that might change!
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky. Good luck with your 30 or 40 years!
DeleteNo doubt about it...sometimes I struggle to remember things from the past, particularly names of people I knew around old neighbourhoods or jobs. It's quite normal!
ReplyDeleteYou're right but I still want to find the name because it irritates me.
DeleteRed this has also happened to me, I do a lot of networking and faces I can remember no problem, it's names that sometimes befuddle me. If I'm on my game I do word association, it works sometimes, other times I can only recall the word I've associated the name with and it's back to square one! I like it when I attend events where everyone has a name tag on... simplifies things that way! :-)
ReplyDeleteOne thing is to repeat a name when you first meet someone.
DeleteAll the time. I think it happens to everyone but not everybody lets it bother them to the point of persisting until that moment of recall. I know people who say "forget about it" and they already have. For me, it keeps petering my mind until I come up with the name. Thank goodness for Google, where you can get all but the very personal references. For the rest, I use Tex's method.
ReplyDeleteMost of the time I can say skip it. the other day I just had to come up with that name.
DeleteI think most people have moments like that. The magic of our brains
ReplyDeleteThere's lots of magic and then there are some glitches.
DeleteOh yes, it's like I *almost* see the name, but then it flits out of my mind...then back...then out...finally back for real, waaaay after I was trying to retrieve it.
ReplyDeleteYou have a very accurate description of this situation. Thanks for visiting Hiawatha House.
DeleteYes, and the harder I search for the name the more ellusive it is...then like magic it pops into my brain...go figure. At least I know my own name...for now:)
ReplyDeleteYou're not the only one to feel that like magic the name pops into your head.
DeleteNames are especially hard for me to remember, even names of plants! But I try to jut move on, and then it might come to me. It is especially tricky though, when it happens when you are trying to have a conversation.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's frustrating when you're in a conversation and oops I lost it.
DeleteThis is a very common event in my life. I remember almost exactly to the day when I noticed my memory had faded. It was 13 years ago and I forgot a common celebrities name. I was the type of person who could name all the major characters in every movie I had ever seen. That is now gone and I was so frustrated. But it is what it is, I guess.
ReplyDeleteHi Red, I sure know what you mean and, yes, it happens to me all the time. Ha ha. Slowly but surely it seems to get a little bit worse. :-) Happy New Year to you!
ReplyDeleteI have experienced this as well and it is so frustrating. I keep thinking about it and eventually it comes to mind when the conversation is no longer useful. ha,ha I call it "brain farts"..... - Much Happiness to you and your family in the New Year.
ReplyDeleteI am terrible with names, which can be a bit embarrassing sometimes but I can't help it. Thanks for your visit to my blog :)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you!
I can remember the pass names way back. Yet in the Apt I started to remember the tenants real good after weeks of being here now 3 months.
ReplyDeleteYet the other day when talking about a gal Louise. I had to go to the Alphabet Like Tex girl does at times. Then it came okay the name. Another gal I have to do her name Row row the boat. Her name is Roeann. I know you do not spell her roe like row row your boat but I got it.
Then a gal I met way back in school. I recognized her face. I mean she must be 73. I went up to her and said hi and made a conversation. She flipped out. My gosh your so right. My hubby was so amazed. So what my mind is doing. I have no idea. Happy New Year you and your wife Red and family.
I am the worst one of all when it comes to names and anything else for that matter. It always scares me because my father and most of his siblings all had Alzheimers. It's scary. However, they say you're OK if the name or thing pops up in your head later. Sigh....
ReplyDelete