A new search engine for my memory

Damian inspired me to write this. While he has a memory-recall superpower, I have something ... uh, else.

I remember random events from my childhood, like standing in line in elementary school, telling my best friend I had "Coughitis," and he quipped that I had the "Coughees." I remember the white tiled walls, the squares on the floor and painted lines ... everything. I also remember being at a particular birthday party with this best friend and another close friend, playing with some boxing game.

Certain memories just stand out for me. As Damian mentioned to me once, it's crazy what sixes tend to remember.

The thing is, I suspect all my memories are in my head -- I just have a really poor search engine.
There are times when a friend will say, "Remember when?" and I won't ... at first. As he or she describes the past event, eventually, a word or phrase will trigger the memory, and I'll immediately go, "Oooooo!"

Other times, the person I'm talking to will ask me if I remember something, and no matter how they describe it, the memory doesn't come back. I guess they're not using the right keywords to stimulate that particular part of my brain.

Sometimes, I will assume I can't remember something, and then it hits me later. For example, prior to writing this, I was thinking about how I don't remember specific details about a vacation at Disney world when I was ten years old. After a few moments, I remembered being on Space Mountain (WOOooooooh!), holding on to the handlebars for DEAR LIFE as I sat at the VERY FRONT, committing my life to Jesus if I survived the roller coaster ride, hearing my mother scream behind me, seeing my dad smiling afterwards.

So, the memories are there.

I suspect, as I get older, I will get better at recalling things. I just need to train my mind, kind of like switching from Alta Vista to Google, back in the day.

I hope I'm good at it, like those great baseball players from Glory of Their Times.