COVID Chronicles

by Joan Rose

LW contributor

During this pandemic and lockdown, I’ve had time to think of many things, and one of the things I think about is my memory. The brain is an organ that scientists are still learning about, and the mind is one of the most amazing computers ever designed.

However, I don’t think of the mind as a computerized machine, but rather a memory keeper. In my mind, the memory keeper is an older woman who wears her dark hair in a bun. Her name is Doris, and she works in the Memory Unit of my mind, keeping everything shipshape with her wonderful filing system.

At first, she would sit at her desk wearing her no nonsense blouse and skirt and sensible black shoes, waiting to take the call from Central, which would ask her to find a memory for me. Since I was busy making memories when I was younger, Doris didn’t have much to do, and she would sit at her desk playing crossword puzzles. Central sent all these memories I was making into numerous files in the filing cabinets that took up large sections of a great warehouse in the Memory Unit.

As I got older, I would try to think of something, and Doris would run to the filing cabinet, find the right file and instantly send the memory to me with a touch of a button on her desk.

The system worked fine until I reached age 50, and Doris found that she was working harder to find those memories for me. Instead of an instant response, it took Doris a little longer to go through those files to find the correct memory.

Just as a hobby, Doris had a wonderful record collection and a trusty old record player. Since I was musically inclined, my memories of music were forever saved.

The records she played contained most of the hit songs from the ’40s and ’50s, along with various show tunes, operas and classical music.

During those times when I wasn’t looking for a memory, Doris would get bored and play those songs in my head. If I was idle, Doris would begin to play old Broadway songs or even music from operas like “Carmen,” sung by an amazing soprano or a wonderful tenor. One morning I awoke to the opening trumpet blasts from the “William Tell Overture,” and the overture was then played with full orchestra accompaniment. It was astonishing!

As time went on, I found that selecting memories from my mind took Doris a little longer. She was probably getting older, like me, and she wasn’t as spry as she once was.

When I was in my 60s, I was in my yard talking to my neighbor, Carol. I had known Carol since I first moved into the neighborhood years ago. Barbara, another neighbor, came up to us, and we nodded. She had just moved into the neighborhood and I didn’t think she knew Carol, so I thought I would introduce them.

I smiled and said, “Barbara, this is my neighbor . . .” all I could draw up from my memory was a blank. A BLANK!

Finally, Carol put out her hand and shook Barbara’s hand and said, “I'm Carol.” Of course, I was mortified and apologized to both of them, but it was a strained moment, and I wondered what on earth was happening to my memory. Thinking back to that time, I think Doris may have been out to lunch during that fateful moment. Or perhaps she was taking a little nap.

But I soldiered on, and when I reached my 80s, I realized that things had really gotten out of hand. Sometimes I would look at a photo of a famous actor or actress and couldn’t remember his or her name. Try as I might, I couldn’t remember it, but I knew that if I waited a few hours, the name would suddenly pop up in my mind.

Doris was probably now using a walker, and the file cabinets had doubled in the last few years, so it took her a long time to find the right file.

Now we are into the computer age, and of course, I could probably cheat (which I sometimes do) and look up anything I want on Google. But I know that if I have patience, the name will come to me.

Doris is still playing the old songs in my mind, and they only stop if I am watching television, reading or sleeping. I don’t mind it, and I sometimes sing along.

I am always surprised when some of the old songs from movies made by Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy come on – beautiful songs from the movies “Girl of