There are a lot of ads, promos and snake oil alternatives for improving one’s memory. Sometimes the best solution can be someone else.

I was shopping for candy to send to my sons and their families for Easter, which includes a mix of Easter candy and big bags of “regular” candy. It was a couple of days before Easter and the aisles at the neighborhood Walmart were low on inventory if not altogether empty.

As I looked up and down the aisle from a vantage point near the chocolate end, a lady grumbled to her adult daughter about not being able to find a specific candy bar – Almond Joy. Having studied the area for several minutes, I knew where her objective was and pointed them out. She and her daughter were very appreciative: “We have our own personal shopper!” she said.

About a minute later, I noticed a much older woman standing near me with her cart. She was thin, frail looking and with the nearly transparent skin that I recall my grandmother had in her late 80s. “I know what I am looking for, but I can’t remember what it is called,” she said quietly.

“Do you remember the ingredients,” I asked, assuming she was directing her quiet comments to me since I was the only other person near her.

“Chocolate and coconut,” she said, as quietly as her other statement.

“Almond Joy?” I asked, hoping to be two for two. She shook her head. “Mounds?” I said as a follow up. Mounds were one of my grandmom’s favorites, too.

She smiled and nodded. I found a package with several small bars and handed it to her. She took the package and said, “I’ll get another when I run out. Thank you.”

My wife and I have to sometimes count on each other to complete a memory, too. My sons and I put together the puzzle of memories, too, with them usually having more pieces than I do. And that’s okay.

Memories are precious treasures. I’ve read that Ernest Hemingway said about his electroshock treatments that they were stealing his memories and that is all that a writer has. Or any of us for that matter. Sometimes we need to count on others for help.

From the first time I heard the song “The Dutchman,” I loved it. Memories, memories lost, and memories saved by others for us. (The song is linked here.)

One of the reasons that I created my Memories to Memoirs workshop that led to the publication of LIFElines: Empowering All Aspects of Your Life. Watching the reactions of attended of cross-generational audiences is always amazing as recollections and perspectives are pieced together.

For yourself, for others….remember and share.