Lately I am finding it harder and harder to remember names and then place them on the proper faces. Word descriptions do not help as they are too general and too many people fit into the same categories.

Too many years!

Too many places!

Too many people!

That is the reason they call this column Over 60 and Getting Younger. It is a cute and catchy title but its veracity sometimes needs questioning. Hardly anyone gets younger.

This incident happened just last week:

I was in a discussion with my wife. We were talking about a couple we met awhile ago on a cruise to Bermuda. I had this specific couple in mind. We sat at the same table in the ship's dining room and I was trying to describe them to Lorraine (my wife). Their names were long forgotten.

I had a perfect picture of them in my mind's eye. However, I found it impossible to put it into a meaningful word description. I finally blurted out in utter frustration, "He's bald and she thinks she's beautiful!"

Lorraine broke into a huge burst of laughter as she stated, "That describes over half of our friends!" I laughed also.

She was absolutely correct but that didn't pinpoint the people I was referring to.

Maybe the answer is to carry a little spy camera around and covertly snap a photo for future reference. Naah! It's just not that important. Trying to get a word picture, however, is a good mental exercise for people who are "over 60 and getting younger."

PS: Have you noticed?:

* Gas prices are going down and the price of everything else is going up!

* There is at least one NBA game on every night and sometimes two or three. The New Jersey Nets are still in the hunt.

* The Los Angeles Lakers won't win the championship this year.

God Bless America!