Thinking about the forgetfulness we face at our age, I asked this hypothetical question: “You recently loaned your car to a friend, but you forgot there was something stashed in there you didn’t want anyone to find! What was it?”

John Lobitz said, “My wife’s name.” Dick Clapp says, “I’m pretty sure I loaned my car to someone, but I can’t remember who it was!” Jim Rooks is adamant: “I forget, but I still don’t want anybody to find it!” For many, however, the idea of stashing something in the car in the first place was anathema. John Bash regrets he has “never stashed anything anywhere, and I’m too old to start now.” Hank Cramer agrees: “At this point in life I can’t think of anything that I fear anyone finding!” Others were optimistic. “Pokey” Kornet said, “Any friend I trusted enough to lend my car I would trust to take care of anything of value they found and discreet enough to ignore anything embarrassing they discovered!”

Chris Smith also said he has “nothing to hide and even when I had something to hide my friends understood. But some of my friends now might be surprised at the music CDs that I have loaded in my vehicle.” Many resonated with the issue of forgetfulness. Doug Coonrad said, “I don’t use my cell phone for my calendar since I often misplace both it and my glasses.” Pokey Kornet adds, “Sometimes I have a clear picture of a certain face in mind but can’t recall the name that goes with the face! Who messed up the file drawers of data in my crowded brain? At our age there are so many bits of information on our mental desktop that some start falling off the edge.”

Finally, Gary Atkins says he finds himself “making more notes to myself regarding items I need to do. Then the only challenge is…where did I leave the notes? Growing older might not be the greatest, but it surely beats the alternative. Cherish each day, classmates, and feel that every day you are vertical should be a good day!”

—Larry Langford, P.O. Box 71, Buckland, MA 01339; 1967damnotes@gmail.com