Wait, It’s On the Tip of My Tongue - by Jane Everham
I have had word retrieval problems my whole life. Once, I went through a phase in which I would be explaining something to someone and intending to say a word like ‘cold,” but I would say ‘hot,’ the exact opposite of the word of which I was thinking. It was embarrassing to say the least. But what was worse was that the people closest to me got used to this trait and would automatically make the correction aloud. I felt flawed and slightly humiliated by the kindness – always offered with a smirk. I used to call it a learning disability, but learning disabilities do not go away and this one has gone away so I chalk it up to brain growth even after age 25 – a boon.
Then there was the phase where my brain offered up a related word but not the word I was trying to say. For example, I want to say black, but blue comes out – hmmm, both ‘bl’ words but . . . Once I was cooking with a friend at her house. I needed to cut bread and asked for a “corrugated” knife. With a wry chuckle and no hesitation my friend handed me a serrated knife.
Now, I am officially old, though my soul thinks I am thirty-seven--in conflict with my aching, groaning body. My word retrieval has worsened. Daily I search for the word I know I want, and I get fireworks with sparks flying off in all directions. One of those sparks is the word I want if I could catch it. Instead, I do what speech therapists teach – talk around the word, share its meaning/definition, describe it – “You know, that thing for digging.” The word will either come to you, or a synonym will, or – failsafe - your listener will figure it out.
Easy peasy, right? NOOO! It is embarrassing and humbling and only saved by the fact that this behavior puts me in a club with so many of my peers. We are the Lost Words Club, and we lumber on or become quieter, and that is a concern. Seniors have too much to offer to be silenced so I ask you world to bear with us. We may take a bit longer to get our message across, but it will surely be worth the wait, right? 😊
I grew up in the Chicago suburbs in the 50's and 60's. I moved to Colorado to attend Denver University and with two exceptions (a year of study abroad in Spain and a year as a flight attendant in Miami), I have lived in Ft. Collins, Colorado with no intentions of ever leaving. After earning an Educational Specialist degree in School Psychology at UNC, I worked for 34 years in the public schools in Cheyenne, Wyoming and Fort Collins, Colorado.
After retirement in 2011, I have been kept out of trouble with active volunteering with the Larimer League of Women Voters, Foothills Unitarian Church, and progressive politics wherever I can find them. I love to have lunch with friends, read voraciously, and travel.
