The Forgetful One

Let's just say that my brother is not the forgetful one.

Ben is better with names. He remembers things that he and I did that I have long since forgotten. He remembers details from school band concerts and track meets that I wouldn't remember if they were yesterday. He didn't miss his GRE exams because he thought they were on Sunday. He didn't miss his first day of grad school because he thought it was still the weekend.

So imagine my ... relief this summer when he confessed upon arriving in the woods that he had forgotten to pack their tent. They got to the woods in the wee hours of the morning after five hours of driving with no tent to sleep in. And as he told the story, I could so empathize. It was such a mistake that I would make.

But had it been my mistake, there would have been (I can imagine it clearly) nods of knowing sympathy for Trudy and son-Ben. There would have been polite pats of sympathy on my shoulder. Such is the life of a forgetful man: everyone knows it about you, and although they are discrete, you know they go home at night thinking, I'm sure glad I'm not him!

So for once, it was somebody else. For once, it was my brother and not me. Mind you, it wasn't that I took any satisfaction in the event, but thank heavens it wasn't me.

But here's the thing of it...

Had I been the one who had left his tent behind (like the time son-Ben and I went camping in East Texas and I left the packed ice chest on the floor in the kitchen), the story would have served as family entertainment for many years. Yet somehow my brother not only escaped that fate but turned his shame into personal triumph.

On the morning after they arrived, brother-Ben went to the store to look for a new tent. On the 4th of July weekend, he just walked into the store and went looking for one to buy. And he found one. Not only that, but it was 20% off. Not only that, but the tent he selected and brought back was hailed by our group as a very cool tent and elicited shouts of approval and envy all weekend long.

And so, instead of being remembered as the day that Ben forgot to bring his tent to the woods, it will forever be remembered in story as the day he found that great tent at Meijer's on a holiday weekend for such a great price.

No. My brother is not the forgetful one.

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