Lost But not Forgotten

Listen up. Half-asleep, the mind is listening.

One of those mind-benders struck me out of

the blue today. Allow me in as few lines as

possible to explain:

Early this morning after the dog was let out,

after coffee was poured and drank, as I settled

into my routinely reclined place, TV tuned to

Morning Joe on MSNBC TV, before daybreak,

I was dozing off as each morning I have want

to do. Everything was typically normal to begin

my day.

Off and on for the past couple of years, I tried

to recall a once favorite singer I had back in the

1990s. She never made the list of top singers

nor ever had a chart-topper number one song.

Consequentially, she never became a famed

household name. Since then there have been

many changes in my life, so many places and

faces, so many Sallies, Susies, Patties and

Maggies. And over time, the jumble of pos-

sibilities had white-washed my brain. Even

though on occasion I tried to recall, for the life

of me, I couldn’t dredge up her name.

So, out of frustration, I had to eventually let it go.

Good singer, though, down to earth folk country

music forever lost in time, and the growing old

age muddle of my mind. See where this gets us…

I set out to tell you my story in a few lines, then

completely blew that commitment all to hell.

Oh well, last I remember, I was dozing off in

my recliner with MSNBC broadcast on TV.

John Heilemann, a journalist, was being inter-

viewed about something or other to do with being

home-bound due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and

apparently the topic of music and memories came

up, none of which sunk into my semi-conscious brain.

All of a sudden he said the name, Iris DeMent. I was

thunder struck awake...That’s it! That is the name I

had been searching for the past two years, the folk

country singer I knew and enjoyed more than a de-

cade ago.

It was then I realized, the mind is ever listening,

asleep or awake, for answers to questions it asks

of itself.

It brought to mind a time many years ago when

my mother lie comatose and dying in the hospital.

Her nurse at the time told me even though she

was unconscious, she could still hear what I may

have to say: “I love you, Mom.” Now, I am assured,

her mind was tuned to my words, and she heard.

Even with her eyes closed and unable to respond,

by God, she heard! So to those of you who before

this may not have known, listen up.

                          -30-

Chris Hanch 4-8-2020

Iris DeMent