All this talk about failing memory has put me in mind of something that happened awhile back to an old cowpoke friend of mine and his persnickety missus. They're getting on in years, same as the rest of us, and were having memory problems too -- real bad ones.
He'd forget the Sears catalogue in the kitchen when he went to the outhouse at night. He'd forget to poke the cows. Sometimes he would even forget when to spit and when to swallow.
She'd forget to add molassess to the sagebrush pie, forget which hitching post she'd tied her old nag up to, and forget to tie thread to her needle. They were real worried, yer dern tootin'.
So they stopped by to see old doc Barnes. Don't give it another mind, he said. Folks start losing their memories, and other stuff too, as they get older. Yessiree Bob!
You have to compensate, he said. Start using memory aids. Think of Sears when you head to the outhouse. Write down the recipe for sagebrush pie. Keep saying ''needle and thread'' over and over again. Truth is, he said, for folks like us who've got that last round-up in sight, if you want to remember something, you've got to right it down. Yer dern tootin'.
That night, as they sat by the fire, she asked him to get her a piece of that tasty sagebrush pie she'd baked up that day. Write it down, she said. Nonsense, he said. But I want some cactus ice cream on it, and a horned toad cookee on the side, she pleaded. Don't worry, he said, his cowboy patience almost out of the corral. I won't forget.
But when he returned, 45 minutes later, he brought her, not pie, but a fried egg and a bunch of bacon. I told you to write it down, she said. Now look what you've done. You've forgotten the toast.
To all you buckaroos I say, may the wisdom that comes with maturity compensate for the frailties that come with old age. Accept your frailties, and others' too, and compensate for them as best you can.
By Gabby
He'd forget the Sears catalogue in the kitchen when he went to the outhouse at night. He'd forget to poke the cows. Sometimes he would even forget when to spit and when to swallow.
She'd forget to add molassess to the sagebrush pie, forget which hitching post she'd tied her old nag up to, and forget to tie thread to her needle. They were real worried, yer dern tootin'.
So they stopped by to see old doc Barnes. Don't give it another mind, he said. Folks start losing their memories, and other stuff too, as they get older. Yessiree Bob!
You have to compensate, he said. Start using memory aids. Think of Sears when you head to the outhouse. Write down the recipe for sagebrush pie. Keep saying ''needle and thread'' over and over again. Truth is, he said, for folks like us who've got that last round-up in sight, if you want to remember something, you've got to right it down. Yer dern tootin'.
That night, as they sat by the fire, she asked him to get her a piece of that tasty sagebrush pie she'd baked up that day. Write it down, she said. Nonsense, he said. But I want some cactus ice cream on it, and a horned toad cookee on the side, she pleaded. Don't worry, he said, his cowboy patience almost out of the corral. I won't forget.
But when he returned, 45 minutes later, he brought her, not pie, but a fried egg and a bunch of bacon. I told you to write it down, she said. Now look what you've done. You've forgotten the toast.
To all you buckaroos I say, may the wisdom that comes with maturity compensate for the frailties that come with old age. Accept your frailties, and others' too, and compensate for them as best you can.
By Gabby
