Where Did I Put That? Misplacing An Important Message

I’ve got to call my friend back. I know she … contacted me, but I can’t remember what it was about. At the time I thought I’d save it and read it later. Now I’m trying to remember exactly where I saw it….

This definitely falls under the heading of “First World Problems,” but that doesn’t make me feel any better or help me find the message.

Read: Inspiring stories about those 50+

Discover: 7 things that actually get better with age, research confirms

Was it an email? I handle two personal email accounts and two business ones. She’s a business connection as well as a friend, so it could be any of them.

Maybe it’s on WhatsApp? I don’t use it much, but especially my out-of-country friends do. And then there are people like my brother who uses every possible way to interact. Could it have been a Facebook post on my personal account? Or maybe one of my business accounts? I’d better check.

Maybe it was a Facebook Messenger message. Let me look through that inbox. If so, where did I see it? Where can I see it? On my desktop computer? My phone? The laptop? Does it even matter?

Maybe it was a LinkedIn message. I only handle two accounts there.

A text? Most of my friends (and apparently no political candidates) know I’m not a big texter – I don’t like “tiny typing.” But I’ve had to use it, like all the others, because some of us like one way to contact people, some of us another. For a while. Then we might switch.

Of course, I could just reach out to her and confess. “I know you sent me a message, but I set it aside and well, I don’t want you to think that I didn’t think it was important. In fact, I set it aside because I thought it was important and I wanted to read it, but…” By now even you don’t believe me.

So maybe I can find it. Let me check my main email inbox. Wait a minute. Do I search for her name? Her married name or her professional name? Her email address? And if so, what is it… Maybe I can search by date and just scroll. Was that this week or last? I hope I didn’t wait more than a week.

I could also try File Explorer or the Everything search program, but I’m not sure they’ll probe  messages from each of these potential sources.

And then it struck me: she called me.

Now I just have to retrieve that voicemail from one of my telephone accounts….

Mary Westheimer is the author of What Nobody Tells You About Getting Older, a book about aging with both eyes open and a smile on your lips. Learn more at https://www.whatnobodytellsyou.com

More from Nifty50+

• Just What Is a Fashion Crime at 50+? And Do You Even Care?
• How to be a great long-distance grandparent
• The Benefits of ‘Purpose’: Why It Matters Later In Life
• 7 best camping (and glamping) ideas for a multigenerational trip