Help with Name of Pet

Oh, this is another absolute beauty. Many years ago, my wife was regaling me with a story about one of her fellow co-workers, after having seen her bring her two cats, Thunder and Lightning, into work over the weekend.

Fast forward, perhaps five years. My wife and I were at a social gathering and a particular individual mentioned they had a dog named Thunder. I shot straight up in my chair, turned to my wife, and asked, “Wait, don’t we know someone else with a dog named Thunder?”

“Nope.”

“Really? Are you sure? That name sounds familiar.” It was a very trivial matter, and as such, my trivial brain wouldn’t let it rest.

A few days later, I persisted with the line of questioning. “Are you sure we don’t know someone with a dog named Thunder? Or maybe it’s a cat. I don’t know. I remember that name from somewhere. It’s not a common name for a pet.”

“Nope. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But I know we do, I fucking know it. And I know none of this is important, but it’s bugging me, and I can’t let it go. A few days later, it finally came to me. “Wait a minute! I got it! It’s a cat! No, it’s two cats! Didn’t you tell me a story about someone who brought their cats Thunder and Lightning to work?”

“Oh yeah. Thunder and Lightning. Those are my co-worker’s cats. She brings them into work on the weekend.

“Jesus Christ, I knew I wasn’t crazy. I remembered them from a story you told me. Why didn’t you also remember them? They’re from your story.”

“You were talking about them, but that didn’t help me remember. I had to see the visual picture of them in my head.”

“But I’ve never seen any of them in my life. I only know about them through a story you told me. It was your story, but I’m the one who remembered. I can’t believe we just went through all of this.” 

And for what? I put both of us through this excruciating memory exercise just to make the connection between the names of other people’s pets. Then I remembered the advice from our family friend and calmly reminded myself that we’ve got it made.