Jackie McGregor: Who the ‘L’ is that girl? It’s what’s-her-name off thingamajig....
“I’ve seen her before. She was on The X Factor or was it, Pop Idol?” I announced as I watched The Voice on Saturday night.
“She’s not familiar looking,” commented hubby, glancing up from his phone.
“The girl I’m thinking of had pink streaks in her hair. Do you not know who I mean? Was it Amy someone, or Anna? The name Lily is coming through to me,” I said, sounding like I was channelling Doris Stokes.
“I don’t know,” he said firmly.
“My mum always used to say go through the alphabet if you can’t remember a name, Now, let’s see, A, yes that’s definitely ringing a bell, B … no, that’s not bringing anything, C …”
“For the love of God, just Google it,” he barked impatiently, interrupting my train of thought.
“No way! I want to remember it myself, anyway what would I Google, girl with pink streaks in her hair that might be off the X Factor?” I asked.
“Yes!” he responded with a loud sigh.
“I don’t think it’s her actually, but she’s the spitting image of that girl I’m thinking of,” I continued and proceeded to go through the alphabet aloud several times.
Eventually, on hitting the letter L again, I was able to retrieve the name from the dark recesses of my mind and triumphantly yelled, “Amelia Lily, that’s who she looks like!”
By this time the lookalike girl on The Voice, whose name was, Roisin McCarney, had long disappeared from the screen, I was exhausted, and hubby was no doubt harbouring divorce fantasies.
“Thank goodness for that!” he sighed.
Since hitting middle age, hubby and I spend most of our TV viewing time, trying to remember the names of people on screen and what we’ve seen them in before. Heated debates can quickly ignite, as we disagree on identities and compete to see who will win the Guess Who game?
Using Google is usually not an option, unless one is seriously getting on the other’s nerves, trying to guess someone the other has no clue about. I had really impressed myself, as when I Googled Amelia Lily, she had been a finalist on the X Factor as far back as 2011! There’s great relief when we do manage to retrieve the information mentally, without the use of a search engine. Behind this relief is the unspoken fear for both of us that our slow memory retrieval may be the onset of dementia, as our parents developed it, but mild memory loss is a normal part of ageing.
In our 50s it’s not unusual to forget names, misplace keys, or forget why we walked into a room. Experts say a rule to use is, if you’re worried about your memory, it probably isn’t serious. But if your friends or loved ones are worried about your memory, then it might be.
“My dad loved his music,” said hubby on hearing of the recent death of Kris Kristofferson.
“I loved him in that thingamajig movie, with what’s-her-name? Barbara somebody…” I mused
“Yes, Barbara - great voice, big schnozzle!” hubby recalled.
“Barbara, let me think. A, B, C …” I rhymed. And so began an evening of competitive reflection, as we embarked on yet another stroll down memory loss lane.