Memoryless Day

by Cathy

I had a great Memorial Day weekend; it was the perfect combination of visiting with family and friends and getting in some of my own quality family time.

So there I was on Sunday, excited beyond belief that I have ONE FULL DAY to myself to do all the little things on my swelling laundry list that need to be done to usher out the cold and bring in the summer warmth. At the breakfast table that morning, I laid out the plan - who was going to tackle what jobs, etc. We indulged in our relaxed day, doing what we had to do when we wanted to do it, taking breaks and hey! deciding to grill out. We made a list and went en masse to the fruit market up the street and stocked up on veggies, fruit, corn on the cob, chiles and plenty of limes to make fresh Margaritas. Ole!

We got home, unpacked the groceries and leisurely went about preparing our meal and drinks. I went into the bedroom to soothe Ari since we had just reprimanded her for misbehaving at the store, when Joe yelled out from the kitchen. "Caaath!" There was a hint of alarm in his voice and that piqued my curiosity. Before I got a chance to answer, he called my name again, except this time, there was more urgency in his voice. What now?
"Yes!" I yelled back from the girls room as I opened the door and headed toward the kitchen, holding Ari. I saw him thumbing through his cell phone.
"Are you SURE that the Handy's barbeque is tomorrow?" he asks rather too edgy.
"Yeah," I said cautiously. "Why?"
"Cuz my boy just texted me and said, 'Where are you guys? Don't forget the girls' bathing suits.'"
"What?!"
"You're positive she said Monday, right?"
"YES! Look here I'll pull up the email."

I pulled the email up on my phone and quickly glanced at it. Sure enough, the title of the email said Memorial Day weekend get together but the context said Sunday. I hurriedly concluded that I figured that it was on Monday since she wrote 'Memorial Day'.

Anyway, we didn't have time to examine it now. We were two hours late for the party. Leisure mode quickly turned frantic and we went from zero to 60 in record time. Joe took the fastest shower in history and after changing my clothes, the girls and I were down in storage in five minutes flat, pulling out bathing suits for them to use in the kiddie pool.We were off.

Throughout the day - because Joe just couldn't forget about it and just enjoy the party now that we were there - we exchanged angry quips.
"I can't believe you didn't see that."
"Well I forwarded you the email. Why didn't YOU catch the date?"
"Remember, I even asked you specifically which day it was on?"
"Yes, but you didn't check your email."
"You never forwarded me an email."
"OH.YES.I. DID. That I DO know!"
And on it went, all the meanwhile in my head, I am questioning myself: How could I have been so off? That's not like me. Maybe I DO have too much going on? I've never made a mistake about an event before. How could I have gotten it so wrong?

Eventually, after Joe had his little fit, we ended up really enjoying the day, spending time with good friends and enjoying good food and drink.

But I, having this nagging sensation somewhere in the back of my mind, couldn't let it go. So I decided to pull up that email again and really take a good look at it. And there it was, staring at me in the face. It said, "Join us on Sunday, May 28th." Ha! May 28th is Monday! I probably just saw the date (and not the day) and penciled it right into my calendar. NOW it makes sense. I triumphantly forwarded that email on to Joe to prove to him that I am not in fact, losing my marbles.

His response? "I guess we were the only ones who assumed the wrong date."
Can't cut me the slack, eh?

No worries, though. I made damn sure that he will be copied on all future email invitations we receive from our group of friends.  The buck won't stop with me any longer. Going forward, we are sharing the stopping of the buck so that we are equally at fault for equally dropping the ball. And perhaps, losing our memory.