Of course, being older, I worry that I might someday truly lose the keys/ wallet/wedding ring and will never find them again because I will not be able to recall the details of mislaying them in the first place. And I know I am not alone. The fear of memory loss nibbles at our retired consciousnesses along with all those other aging related fears.
Yesterday, I began to
worry that I can mislaid an entire relative, a sister-in-law by the name of
Madeline. I had received a note from a
former colleague who confidently forwarded a tiny black and white photograph of this lady to me
along with the explanation: an older
gentleman, Mr H, had come into the library to deliver the picture and details
of who (Madeline) and where (Grand Bend) to Nancy.
Barb, Toni, Wendy,
Betty –those are my sisters-in-law.
There is no Madeline. I was sure
of it. Our extended family does include
a Madeleine, but she is my daughter’s sister-in-law.
There was nothing to
do but to call Mr. H, introduce myself, and see if we couldn’t sort this out. I
hoped he wouldn’t insist Madeline belonged to me. Finally we speculated that his Nancy worked at another desk in the
library, although to verify the Madeline connection I had to get back to the former
colleague who promptly contacted the probable Nancy. And sure enough....the mysterious Madeline is
her aunt. Whew! (I’ll deliver the picture
to her ASAP.)
Librarians love to
solve problems. It is particularly nice
to solve them and know that you are not losing your mind. Not yet, anyway.
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