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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Write it out: Embarrassing memory becomes a fond one

Bill Witthuhn 87

He wrote down the names of the players, as that was part of his contribution when the friends played Mexican Train, a dominoes game.

He was hoping the name of his male friend would come to him, as it was extremely embarrassing to tell your good friend you forgot his name. So he wrote his own name, his wife’s name, the other man’s wife’s name, but the man’s name eluded him.

He wrote “man” thinking the name would pop up any time now.

The game progressed with the usual banter, when finally his wife used the man’s name – “Cliff.” He was able to raise the clipboard closer to him, with the score sheet up, without anyone noticing he had changed “man” to “Cliff.”

Now that he knew the man’s name, he made it a point to call him by name at every opportunity. After his third time addressing his friend as Cliff, his wife looked at him and asked: “Why are you calling Chris, Cliff?”

The answer was, of course, “That is what it sounded like to me.”

Then he had to own up to a senior moment when he forgot his good friend’s name. Fortunately, they all had some memory losses in the past.

So one hearty laugh and it was on with the game.