Now Where Did I Put That?

The aches and pains of aging are one thing.  I expect that.

Short term memory loss is another.  I expect that too.

However,

Planned Forgetting requires some immediate attention.

Have you ever looked around for a foolproof hiding place for your special treasures?

Well, that’s what I was going about doing.

Where could I hide my favorite locket?

• How about the freezer?  No, that’s old-hat.
• Hide it in one of those mini boxes with secret ways to open?  Nope. Probably well known to marauders.
• In the back of a desk file drawer?  Not there either – thieves would probably look there first.
• In a shoe box with some shoes.  No, No, No!
• Finally there it was – the perfect spot.  “I WILL remember this place! I MUST remember!”

You can see where this is going.  I was consciously, knowingly planning to forget and stored the locket in the pocket of a favorite off-season jacket.

And of course I did forget  both the locket and the jacket.

Weeks later I wanted to wear the locket but where was it?

I looked in the mini treasure box, the desk drawer, the files in the desk drawer, the freezer, all the logical storage spots, and every box of shoes (including Bill’s).  This took hours of emptying and reassembling drawers, thinking and thinking, retracing steps.

“It’s no big deal,” I thought, “How important are such things in life anyway?”

But it wasn’t the loss that was so frustrating, it was the fact that I could not remember where I put it, that I knew I would not remember where I put it, and my own prophecy had come true.

Finally on the verge of tears, I tried one last place.

“It must be in a pocket! My mother always hid things in pockets!”  That meant going through the pockets of all the slacks, tops and vests in the closet, and finally the jackets.  Touching the last jacket I knew the locket had to be there.

And there it was!

And that is the essence of “Planned Forgetting!”

If you are a robber and want my pretty locket, well, come and get it!

It’s will now forever reside in an old fashioned junk jewelry box in plain sight.

Hopefully I will not forget I didn’t plan to forget another hiding place and then forget that it is in the jewelry box right under my nose.