Mark Spitz, I Remember You!

When she was in her 90s, I remember my grandma, AEH, saying "I can remember the name of the music teacher* in high school but I can't remember what I had for lunch today."

My reaction to that has changed over the years from "Ohhh, Grandma, you're so funny!" in my late 20s to today's "Ohhhhh, Grandma, I KNOW what you mean."

On the way to school this morning, the kids and I were talking about the Olympics. I told them that the first Olympics I really remember are the Munich summer games in 1972.** Olga Korbut, the Soviet gymnast, fascinated my 8-year-old self and had me daydreaming of gymnastics glory.

"And," I continued, "Swimmer Mark Spitz was all over the news. He set a record for the most medals ever won by one person at one Olympics. That is until ... um ... ah ... hmmm ... the swimmer from the last summer Olympics."

"Michael Phelps," CAG offered.

"YES!!!"

Admittedly, the last summer Olympics was WAY back almost three years now. So I shouldn't be too hard on myself. (HA!)

But it slays me that I could dredge up Olga Korbut and Mark Spitz from 40 dusty years ago in less than a nanosecond. The most recent famous Olympic swimmer? Well, thank goodness for younger minds!

So ... should I start taking ginko or CoQ10 or fish oil or something?

Memory Check:
Choir teacher from 7th grade? Mr. Navarro
Lunch today? Hummus with pita chips and an orange
Laundry? Sounds like the wash cycle just finished


*Grandma might've remembered that name clearly for a very good reason. The teacher pulled Grandma aside one day and "warned" her to back off from her (Grandma's) high school boyfriend. According to the teacher, he was a talented singer and musician who could go far if he wasn't tangled up in a love affair. Lucky for me, Grandma didn't listen, married the guy and, ultimately, gave me two wonderful grandparents!

**I didn't go into the tragedy of the Palestinian terrorists and Israeli athletes. I'm sure that was probably one of the reasons I remember the '72 Olympics so well.