Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Ol' What's-her-name

"I'm so sane, it's driving me crazy..."
~Falling For The First Time, written by Steven Page & Ed Robertson, performed by Barenaked Ladies


A month or so ago, I was lying awake with a bout* of insomnia, and somehow my mind wandered to the girl who sat behind me in Ms. Ryan's seventh grade English class. I could remember quite a few things about her. Her name was Wendy. She had gorgeous, curly red hair and an outsized personality with a sharp edge to it. She seemed more worldly than most of the rest of the kids in that small Pennsylvania town. I remembered that her parents were divorced and that one of them lived in Pennsylvania and the other in Alaska. She spent a year with one and then a year with the other. I remembered that she had told me these details of her life, but couldn't quite remember the circumstances under which she had shared them since we weren't really friends. I don't remember ever having a conversation with Wendy outside that classroom, for example. Don't remember who her friends were or where in town she lived.

Not remembering those things really didn't bother me. What bothered me to an absurd, and perhaps even unhealthy degree, was not remembering her last name. I knew it started with a "K," which was maybe worse than not knowing anything at all.

I started listing "K" names in my head: Kennedy, Kilgore, Klinger, Klein, King...no, no, no, no, no.

I tried to distract myself by thinking about other things, but the "K" names kept worming their way into my thoughts: Kenneth, Karloff, Kenickie. ("A hickey from Kenickie is like a Hallmark card: 'when you care enough to send the very best.'" my mind helpfully offered.)

I tried to gently talk my mind into going to sleep. Offering it a soothing song, a backwards count from a hundred, a couple of other things that occasionally work. No luck. Things had gone from absurd to much more so: Kinesthesia, Kinkiness, Kibbutz.

At this point, it became clear that my brain was not going to let this go so I moved on to trying to think of how I would be able to figure out what Wendy's last name was--not just ever, but right now, tonight (or, really, early this morning). 

Facebook, of course. But how would I be able to find her without knowing her name? Maybe she was FB friends with one of the two people from that school that I am friends with. Maybe she still had her maiden name listed. Maybe I was completely insane for contemplating getting out of bed at 3:17 in the morning to try to figure out the last name of a girl I barely knew thirty years ago who I had no intention of contacting under any circumstances.

Maybe. But I wasn't going to get any sleep without trying. And so I did. And she was not friends with either of my friends, but she was friends with one of my friends' friends.

And her name was Wendy Kinton. And, at last, I slept.


*I do not actually suffer bouts of insomnia. A bout would seem to imply that it is an exception rather than the rule. What is actually going on is insomnia interspersed with bouts of sleep.

18 comments:

  1. Hubs and I have these conversations all the time. Just the other day we were trying to remember something, naming all kinds of ridiculousness like you listed. "It starts with a C, right? Cole, Coal, Column, Comic, Cool ..." "Hm, maybe Carmel, Caramel, Cloud ... no, that's not it."

    OH! It was Yosemite. Doesn't start with a C after all. Drat. Same alphabet, though, right?

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    1. Way to look on the bright side. :)

      This is a huge problem at my house--not the forgetting part so much as the almost remembering and especially the being completely unable to let it go until I do remember.

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  2. Interesting that I would be reading this post at 3:56 a.m. cuz I can't sleep.

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    1. That is one of those semi-amusing but also sad coincidences, isn't it? Hope you've had better nights since.

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  3. I slept once, but that was a long time ago.

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    1. That sounds vaguely familiar, Mark. ;)

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  4. LOL! I'd tease you, but this is SO me. Once a question gets rockin' around in my brain, it absolutely must be answered.

    Oh, and what is it with Wendys and red hair? I've known three Wendys in my life, and all three were redheads.

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    1. You know, now that I think about it, there does seem to be a connection between Wendy's and red hair--even the one on the fast food chain's logo is a redhead. I'll probably be up tonight pondering that connection.

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  5. I had a bit of a FB shock this weekend. One of my school friends is friends with a boy I had a massive crush on way back in the day. I clicked on his profile and thought "Who's this old guy?" Oh, right,him. It didn't keep me up at night, thank goodness, but it was shocking enough to wake me up all the way without any need for coffee!

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    1. Facebook is FOR SURE a mixed blessing. I'm always very curious about where everyone ended up but not always that interested in having them know where I ended up. If that makes any sense.

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  6. Our minds work in such mysterious ways! Thank goodness for Wendy Kinton for letting you sleep!

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    1. Sometimes, especially in the middle of the night, my brain does frighten me a little. :)

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  7. *giggles* Mom does this all the time.

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    1. Oh, it's probably hereditary, Larissa so you've got something to look forward to. ;)

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  8. I totally get how trying to remember a name can drive you crazy. I do this with former students. There are times when I can picture their faces, but CANNOT remember their names. Glad you got to solve your mystery and get back to sleep. :)

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    1. Thanks. This is (obviously) a mental health issue at my house. The thing that got me the worst in this case is the total irrelevance of that bit of information that I was so desperate to find.

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  9. I can never put my finger on names when I need to, I have just given up to it now so it is gladly not affecting my sleep. Although the distinct lack of a bed is (long story!) so I can at least sympathise a little. Hope you get more bouts of sleep ;-)

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    1. I will be looking into the lack of a bed story as soon as I get a chance to start hopping around to visit all my bloggy buddies. We're off to Buffalo for another day, but hoping things settle down enough tomorrow or Monday. Really looking forward to getting caught up with everyone.

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