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Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday
According to Mrs Wikipedia (I think Wikipedia must be a female because she knows everything)
memory is the process by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. Which makes me think that I probably never encode and store where I had left my keys or glasses.
Encoding allows information that is from the outside world to reach our senses in the forms of chemical and physical stimuli. As keys and glasses are neither a physical nor a chemical "stimuli" this explains why I never remember.
In this first stage we must change the information so that we may put the memory into the encoding process. Storage is the second memory stage or process. It looks like our brain is like a filing cabinet.
This entails that we maintain information over periods of time. That's why some people have the memory of an elephant.
Finally the third process is the retrieval of information that we have stored. We must locate it and return it to our consciousness. Some retrieval attempts may be effortless due to the type of information. And that's why I have troubles with keys and glasses, because of a lack of information. Now at least I know why !
Memories are a strange thing. We sometimes better remember things which happened years ago or even in our childhood, but don't remember what we have done the day before, unless it's your birthday, wedding day or whatever. Sometimes a memory comes back because of a smell, a music or a picture. The smell of mint for example brings back memories of my childhood when my grandma gave me mint tea when I had caught a cold. That's why I hate mint because it reminds me of being sick.
It's strange but with the age more and more memories come back which I thought I had long forgotten and not really important once. Digging deep into the past I can remember events which must have happened when I was only 2 or 3. Amazing. I remember a small dark room I shared with a boy (I don't remember who it was) and he screamed for milk ! This could only be the time when apparently my grandparents, parents and an aunt with family all lived under one roof in two small flats because they had all lost their homes when the bombs of WWII dropped on Frankfurt. It was my grandma's sister who lived on the country side housing all these family members ! I don't remember that it must have been rather crowded but I remember a painting of a dead bleeding deer its head hanging down in front of huge mountains and a hunter with his rifle. I still can see this picture when I close my eyes.
Me at two
Yesterday Mr.G. brought me a death notice with a picture. It was an ancient colleague and a long lost friend. She had died of pancreas cancer at only 54. He had met her husband. We used to work together for a one man company selling everything sellable to his country Iran which he had left together with the Shah and a big fortune. She was the accountant and I was his secretary. But as he trusted nobody he did everything himself and we were there as pure decoration and of course were bored ! Often when he went away her husband came with a bottle of wine and we had a lot of fun. We became friends and it lasted quiet a while but then with the time we lost contact and I almost had forgotten her. So yesterday lots of memories came back and I felt so sorry for her husband. He feels so lonely and Mr. G. told him that he can come whenever he wants. Once friends you stay friends even if life separates you for a while.
Now try to think what was the first memories you had in your life and how old were you ? Sometimes it's really surprising.
