In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

99 Understory It’s not that sometimes I forget. I’m told that everybody does. What troubles me is how whatever I’ve forgotten trebles in importance the more I keep forgetting it. Some word . . . Some place . . . Today a student from the Class of Way Back When seemed certain I’d remember him by name. I tried and tried before I had to ask . . . Though students and ex-students are my life, I must admit that I remember most of the best, all of the worst, many who have left this world and not that many of the rest. It leaves me wondering . . . Is memory a beast that sheds its baggage as it goes? Are facts by definition destined for oblivion? Or is it absolute that what I can’t forget no matter how I try is all that’s worth remembering? I know a mother of four sons who mixes up their names. 100 Ollie is Bennett. Bennett is Drew. Drew is Christopher. Facing one, she’ll travel down the list before she’ll ask, “Tell me your name, dear boy.” Outsiders realize they’re all one boy to her, regardless of their names. She knows them by their souls. That reassures me. For JoAnn Bevilacqua-Weiss ...

Share