For most of my life, I've been forgetting things. Growing up, it was my homework and jackets. By the time I graduated from high school, I had probably lost a dozen or more coats.
As an adult, it's car keys, billfolds and cell phones. I never lose them, but I often forget them. Leave them places. Set them down somewhere "important" (such as the freezer or the bumper of the car), then wander off. I spend a lot of time searching for them.
Then I find them and off we go again.
Most days when I leave the house, I have a little ritual. I pat three pockets to see that I have my three things: front right pocket: phone; front left pocket: keys; back right pocket: wallet.
Yesterday, as I was doing my triple check, it occurred to me this was some kind of modern genuflection: a bow to my own humble humanity. But rather than crossing myself, I'm patting myself: Sort of a mix between a TSA pat down and some kind of ritual observance in honor of forgetfulness. Odd, I know. But that's how my mind works.
Then it dawned on me that my three necessary objects -- phone, keys, and wallet -- are some kind of trinitarian formula. I just haven't determined their metaphysical meaning yet. Oh well, scholars and theologians have been haggling over explaining the Christian Trinity with equally unsatisfactory meanings for a long time, so I figure I've got a couple of thousand years yet to work it all out.
Your thoughts are welcome as to the meaning of this all.
In the meantime, let me see how I add my newest object to lose: reading glasses, the curse of being over 40. Three pairs I own, and none to be found. Oh, maybe they're in the car.
Let's see, where did I put my keys...
