“We seem like passing strangers now
Funny how things can change
We were so inseparable
Now you’re acting very strange….”
Are you old enough to remember Billy Eckstein and Sarah Vaughn singing this song? Click here to listen to it again.
And passing strangers is how I describe all those great thoughts and ideas I have in the shower or driving the car that completely disappear by the time I am near a computer or notebook to jot them down. It seems that I am brimming with great ideas for a post or a poem that I absolutely must write but poof, it wafts off into the great blue yonder never to be seen or heard from again.
And I guess this is one of the things I do dislike about getting older. The mind is not nearly as clear as it was; things are not stored the way they were and the memory fails me at times. I do remember wondering why my Mother would forget something that I had told her just a few days ago. Now I find that my daughter is saying the same thing to me – But Mother I already told you we were going to be away this weekend or I already told you the boys were playing water polo at the Hutt Pool.
Do you ever find yourself seeking a word – a very normal, everyday word. This happens sometimes when I am writing. Luckily, I can go ahead with what I am trying to say and the elusive word just pops back into my head. But all those great ideas are lost never to return. So yes, they are like passing strangers
“I think age is a very high price
to pay for maturity”
Sir Tom Stoppard, OM, CBE, FRSL
British playwright, knighted in 1997. 1937 –
and
“Getting old ain’t for the fainthearted”
My friend Phyllis Mills 1914-2006 (?)
I choose how I will spend the rest of my life 
I have a very funny story that pertains to this topic, but I honestly can’t remember it right now.
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Yeah right – it happens to us all eventually (I think).
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My day is full of passing strangers, and I am not yet 45. I think if I better managed my time and put these jumbled thoughts to paper, I’d have an easier time remembering. Alas, I continue to move around doing this and that and the stranger is gone by the time I return.
Yes, I relate to this post 100%. *sigh*
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I can remember being 45 but it was such a long time ago. *sigh* too!
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Before I lose my train of thought and forget to comment……oh darn, what was I going to say? Love the quote by Sir Tom 🙂
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The shower seems to be the place where I have all my best thoughts. But darn it, by the time I have towelled myself dry they have flown. Passing strangers indeed!
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Judith – you have me fooled. I would never suspect you are ever at a loss for words! And you use them so beautifully.
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thank you my blogging sister.
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I’ve been struggling with the same thing myself. I really hate growing older.
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Yes but there is nothing we can do about it. So I am now beginning to make a joke of not remembering somebody’s name. I use the”I’m a blond” cop out!
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Count me in. But I agree with Dor, you cover it quite nicely!
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Thanks Patti.
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I remember our Mum forgot the things that we had told her. Now yes I am doing the same the girls are always saying “but I told you yesterday”. And I am always thinking but I know that word but it evades me.
I agree with your friend You lost for words! Well thats strange. Love you really X
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Thanks small sister. And the friend you are referring to I think is Dor. She is our other long lost sister living in the Us. Love you too.
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Been there, done that, got the Tshirt. And am still doing that… the lack of memory for odd words here and there and forgetting all sorts of stuff. Unfortunately for me, quite often the word I’m looking for never returns.
I’ve taken to keeping a visual diary – sketches sometimes in colour – of things I remember from the past with whatever I can write it, in a black-paper notebook. The strange thing is sometimes I look in it to entries I’ve put in their not long ago and find myself thinking “did I do this? Did I have this thing? Was it really that colour?” I’m not sure, with me, that it’s entirely age-related but I can’t get any sense about it from my doctor so will have to assume it is.
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I write things down as I remember them but sometimes that’s not possible as I say driving or dash it, in the shower. My Iphone will let me record but we can’t use phones while driving. So I shall have to come up with something else. And it is definitely age-related with me. 🙂
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I very often find that a word I was about to use has dissapeared. My girls and Hubby used to just fill them in for me, but now I try and make them wait while I dig around in the old grey cells to find the missing word, trying to prevent it from being lost forever.
It can be really frustrating for them, but often even more so for me. 🙂
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How will you be then when you reach my vast age? 🙂
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