I am thinkful for little reminders. Tying a string around my finger worked when I had one event on the horizon. Somehow as we get older our calendars seem to get filled with all sorts of things we wish we could forget and other things that we dare not forget and some few things that we just want to remember.
Here’s the problem I have run into. If I need to remember something that is almost a year off (International Overalls Day, for example) I will periodically check a calendar to confirm the date. And, if it were not for such good bib-buddies as Niels, Susan, and Laury I would probably wake up one morning and have missed the event by a few hours or a day.
Then there is the problem or remembering things that happen too often. It’s not that I can’t remember what they are. I sometimes can’t remember if I participated or not. Oh, for heaven’s sake! I haven’t gone off center yet. But, here is an example. I give my husband 3 pills twice a day — morning and night. Okay, so that sounds simple doesn’t it? But, I’ve been doing that little process for almost three years. That means he has been on the receiving end for the same length of time. So, some mornings when I prepare his breakfast and go for my second pot of coffee I catch myself wondering if I gave him the pills or not. When I can’t remember I will ask him. Sometimes he just stares at me as if I have asked him to explain the origin of the universe in detail.
Now, here’s the thing. My husband isn’t a dumb person — and for that matter, neither am I. We are both rather well educated, not that we are using all those “ABC’s” and “PhD’s” these days — but that’s another story. Anyway, some days we actually argue about whether he took his meds or not. I started putting the bottles in a special order to denote if he had been given his meds. Of course, I forgot the order of things so that was that. We think we have it worked out now, but I can tell you that we have accumulated an extra month’s worth of meds, apparently believing they had been dispensed when they had not. Oh, geez…. age! It is a beautiful thing and so enjoyable, but —-
So, telling tales about medication was not the point. I wanted to share how thankful I am for little reminders. I have been working to get the 2010 calendar organized. As I thought about some of the big events of the year I was determined to create a reminder that I could not misplace. That’s the other thing about age — you not only forget what it is, you forget what you did with it.
All too often I have told my husband that I would put something “up” for safe keeping and when he asked for it I could not remember for the life of me where that safe place is. Well, it is fair to say that when we transition into another world there will be lots of good stuff that is in a safe place. I do hope the children will appreciate the care I took to keep things safe.
Anyway, I certainly do not want International Overalls Day to slip on me. Now, it is on my mother-in-law’s birthday but my wedding anniversary is on my birthday and often I forget one in lieu of the other until someone wishes me a happy something or other that had escaped my memory. So, please note that in the sidebar just above the picture of the Overalls Award — presented to The Gratitude Journal 
— there is a countdown timer telling all readers how many days remain until our next big International Overalls Day. And, for that little plugin and the reminder I am most thankful today.
