She looked at me then and frowned. “Unlike you with your photographic memory, some of us actually have to study in order to pass.”
“And you did that when?” The only thing I remembered her doing was playing video games late into the night, late enough for me to go to sleep.
“Ha ha, very funny. Man, you have no idea what I’d do to have an ability like that.”
“You make it sound like it’s a super power.”
“It kind of is, isn’t it? I mean, anything you want to remember, you can do so almost instantly.”
“Maybe,” I said, not looking at her, “but there is a limit.”
There were some things I simply couldn’t remember. Things I’d wanted to work through on my own but had to depend on my folks to do it for me.
She got quiet then, leaning forward until I met her eyes. “I didn’t mean to cross a line if I did.”
I let out a long breath and forced a smile. “You didn’t. It just isn’t this great thing everyone talks about. I might get an easy pass on tests and such like that, but it’s almost like I have a time limit on what my mind chooses to remember. I remember stupid stuff forever and forget a lot of the more important things. It isn’t like that for everyone, but it is for me.”
“So you’re like everyone else. Information goes in one ear and eventually falls out the other.”
“Pretty much. It might be an overflow of information that pushes everything else out,” I said as I gave it some thought.
“That’s how I look at it, anyway. In any case, I don’t depend on it as much as I probably could. Instead, I over-analyze things all the time and struggle whenever I have to make an important decision. I realize the two probably aren’t related,
but…” I let out a long breath and let the subject drop. “You get what I mean.”
Taylor nodded, then sat back on her side of the sofa. “I do.” Then, likely sensing my discomfort, she moved on to something else. “So your folks… what do they do for the holidays?”
“It’s more like what don’t they do. Mum is a serious baker and makes batch after batch of cookies along with nut rolls and muffins for Christmas morning. My dad gets stuck with putting up the decorations, mostly because he won’t let my grandfather go up on the roof. My grandfather has the easiest job of all. He gets to sit back and watch the house transform without lifting a finger.”
“Sounds like my kind of job.”
“He gets to rest until Christmas day. That’s when the real work begins. Back when I was a kid, he’d get up, put on some nice holiday music, make breakfast, then join everyone in the family room for presents. Once that was over, he’d go back into the kitchen to finish prepping everything for the rest of the day. He’ll be up around four in the morning just so he can have everything ready before noon.”
“I take it back,” Taylor began, “I’ll stick with putting up the decorations instead.”
“Tinsel and all?”
“Oh god, no. We’ve banned that stuff from the house. It’s almost as bad as glitter.” She scrunched her nose, and I couldn’t help smiling then. “A lot of the decorations we have are old and delicate. Anymore, Mom uses some of the generic balls on the tree. That way, if my niece or nephew knock one off, it isn’t that big of a deal.”
“So you never take out the ones you’ve collected?” That’s a waste.
“Mom will bring them out to show them off, but they’re more of a display item than anything else. We used to get a new ornament every year. I remember almost every single one
of them because I got at least one in my stocking ever since I was a kid.”
“And she’s continued with the tradition?”
“Sadly, no. Now she gets these plastic ones for Dillon and Sally.”
“Your niece and nephew,” I said with a nod.
“It’s a simple touch, and while we might be adults, I still kind of miss it.”
Smiling then, I said, “How about this? Once we get to the house, I’m going to see if your folks have any paper and glue.”
Taylor looked at me and laughed. “What’s that for? Are you going all arts and crafts on me now?”
“We both are. We’re going to make ornaments out of paper mache.” My smile grew. “Oh, and if they have paint, we can decorate them as well. It’s something we can do once everyone else is gone. We can start a new tradition.” One I hoped would last for more than just one year.