If you are like me, you get up and go into the kitchen, but something distracts you, and that quickly makes you forget what you went in there to get.

Memory seems to be a peculiar thing for many of us, especially as we get older.

I can recall things that happened in grade school but forget something that happened a week ago.

If you are a regular reader of my column, you know that I write about things from the past many times. There are good memories and bad memories. And I try not to dwell on the bad ones, but I tend to do that at times.

I found this quote on the internet, “My memory is so bad that I have to write down everything I want to forget.”

I try to remember some of the good things. For example, I can recall things from when I played basketball as a 12-year-old for Nolan Grade School or baseball in the Williamson Babe Ruth League that I played in. I enjoy remembering things like hitting the last-second game-winning shot against East End or getting a big hit in baseball that helped my Price Motor-sponsored team win a game.

I also consider myself a bit of a local historian and recall many of the local players and teams of the past in the area. Being in the newspaper business most of my life, I can also recall big news events like floods, fires and other happenings.

I am sure many of you can remember the lyrics to theme songs from television shows we watched while growing up. Come on, admit it. I bet if you try right now you can sing the entire song to “Gilligan’s Island,” or maybe the “Beverly Hillbillies” or “The Brady Bunch.” I certainly can.

But when my wife and I are looking for a movie to watch on Netflix, we sometimes cannot remember if we have already seen it or not. We may have watched it a year ago but do not realize that we have already seen it until we start watching it again. And sometimes it takes us more than a few minutes to realize it.

Some short-term memory loss is nothing to worry about. But it could be more serious with some people.

I decided to Google some facts about the difference between long-term and short-term memory. Here are a couple of things that stood out.

“Short-term memory holds a small amount of information for a short period of time, often for as little as 20 seconds. Long-term memory holds larger blocks of information indefinitely.”

“Short-term memory has a limited capacity and holds 5 to 9 items, while long-term memory has a seemingly unlimited capacity.”

That makes sense to me. Once again, I remember a lot of things from the past. I can recall stories my dad told me about growing up or being in the Army in World War II and many other recollections.

I guess many of us get in a hurry and forget short-term things. Stress or the faster lifestyle that many live in today’s world are likely culprits.

There are people who can study right before a test or quiz and ace it. But there are those like me who have to work harder to remember the answers and do well on an exam. Some of that could be from anxiety, while others stay calm or just have what many label as a “photographic memory.”

Sometimes it is just hard for some people to concentrate and they can be easily distracted.

Other information I got on the web stated, “Short-term memory is the temporary storage of information that lasts a few seconds to a minute. In contrast, long-term memory is the more permanent information storage that can last from minutes to a lifetime.”

I found these statements on long-term memory.

• It is theoretically unlimited in capacity.
• Duration can range from a few minutes to a lifetime.
• It involves the transfer of information from short-term memory into long-term storage.

Memories created in long-term memory can last for years or even a lifetime.

Another thing I tend to do is forget names. I never forget a face, but if it has been a while since I talked to a certain person, I may have forgotten their name.

As for myself, my wife Vicki and daughter Tina are always ready to ask me a trivia question or some answer to an obscure item. I guess I have stored a lot of useless information in my natural hard drive of a brain. Sometimes it comes in handy when I am watching Jeopardy.

But like they say, “I used to have a great memory, but I forgot where I put it.”

Until next time – I think.

(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)