By Bill King
As much as I hate to admit it, I have come to the time in life when my memory does not work quite as well as it once did. The strange thing is that I can remember details about things that happened when I was growing up, but I can’t remember what I went to buy at the grocery store.
Billy Bob and Thelma Lou Jean were sitting at home one night trying to find something to watch on television. All they found bored them. Suddenly, Thelma Lou Jean said, “You know what I want?” Before Billy Bob could answer, she said, “I want some ice cream.” Billy Bob said, “That sounds like a good idea. You want me to run down to the grocery store and buy ourselves a carton?” She said, “Please, and get us some goodies to go on it.” Billy Bob asked, “What all do you want?” She said, “Write this down. I want vanilla ice cream. Get some fudge syrup to go on top and some salted walnuts too. We could make it like a banana split, so get a couple of bananas. Make sure they are ripe…I hate green bananas with ice cream. Get a can of that squirt-on Readi-Wip topping. That’s easier than scooping Cool Whip from a tub. And see if you can find a jar of those little red cherries to go on top.”
As ole Billy Bob headed out the door, she asked, “Can you remember all that? You had better write it down…make a list on your phone so you don’t forget anything.” Billy Bob insisted that he did not need a list and that he would bring back every single item she had asked him to get. Thelma Lou Jean was surprised when he returned so soon. She wondered if he had forgotten his wallet and had returned to grab it and go back, but then she saw the grocery bag in his hand. He set the one-lonely bag on the kitchen counter. Thelma Lou Jean looked inside and pulled out the biggest jar of peanut butter she had ever seen. She looked back in the bag only to find nothing else there. He had forgotten to bring back any of the toppings she had asked for and had not even gotten any ice cream. She put her hands on her hips, rolled her eyes, and said, “You beat everything I have ever seen in my life.” When he asked why, she muttered, “I told you to write it down. You forgot the loaf bread and the jelly!”
Some of us really do need something, like a grocery list, to help us remember things. I have to write things on my calendar, so I will remember where I’m supposed to be and when I’m supposed to be there. Something is written on my calendar for next Monday. I am not scheduled to be anywhere, but I do need to do something. Next Monday, of course, is Memorial Day, and I need to remember those who died for our country. Why do we need a special day, a national holiday, to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice? Because we can’t remember what we went to the store to buy without writing it down. This holiday is so much more than the unofficial beginning of summer or the end of the school year. It is more than a day to grill hamburgers or go to the beach. It is a day to remember all those Americans who paid for our freedom and the privileges that it brings. Happy Memorial Day!
