What happens when you lose a word?

Today's blog is about losing words. I bet you all have experienced that problem. I also suspect you are not entirely sure what I am talking about. OK, let's get down to basics. There are a few ways you can "lose" words. One is that when you are trying to convey an idea, the word you are looking for just runs from your head and you are left with that blank stare, stuttering... You wave your arms around, snap your fingers, possibly even say, "the word is on the tip of my tongue", and eventually you remember the word, or someone takes pity on you and provides the missing word. I don't refer to this problem as old age, it is just what happens when you lose a word.

Another way you can lose words is in writing. Sometimes I would swear I typed in a particular word, and lo and behold, that word is completely missing from your written missive. Other times, the computer is completely innocent of wrong doing. Sometimes, you may have been thinking so hard about a particular word, that when you are writing, you believe EVERYONE already knows the word you are thinking so hard about. Problem is, people are not always on the same wavelength that you are, and if you leave out a word, it changes the context of your letter, and wrong assumptions are drawn. Today's story is about a little word that was unintentionally left out of a message. It is a true and funny story about what happens when you lose a word.

The day started off quietly enough. The evening before we had called a sick friend to find out how they were doing. We then relayed that health information to others so that their whole circle of friends were updated and the immediate family did not have to call everyone to report the same news. Our group of friends really care about each other, so if news is received by one, it is relayed to everyone. The joys of e-mails... Sometimes though, those e-mails will bite you in the butt...

So, this morning, as we open our messages, we start getting condolence e-mails, and friends contacting us personally upset because we didn't tell them of our current dire health circumstances. Now, the last thing I know, is that we are all relatively healthy (the term "healthy" depends on your definition of health...physically OK, mentally...well, that's another issue...) so when I get a message from friends saying they are so sorry about Hawgwash's failing health, I am concerned. Needless to say, our response was "HUH?"

We then read more of the message, where Hawgwash had to take a chemo shot in order to relieve some of pain from his cancer... and now I know exactly what is going on. What was thought was associated with Hawgwash was actually what Hawgwash TOLD others about our common friend. The person who so kindly sent a blanket e-mail out (again in an effort to be helpful) lost one critical word, the name of the person who actually is very ill. This was a situation where the third party (you know who you are...hehehehe) was relaying to the group what Hawgwash said, but forgot to add "what Hawgwash said about ______'s condition". Ooopps.

It took us some time to get to the bottom of this though because everyone is in different time zones and we all work in some form or another. It is such an easy thing to forget, especially since this one friend of ours has been uppermost in many of our hearts and minds. So, after much giggling, once we discovered why Hawgwash was receiving condolence messages, the person who LOST that one little, bitty, super critical word sent out a follow-up e-mail blast clarifying the fact that Hawgwash is currently hale and hearty and the report was in regards to the other friend we all have in common.

I am glad we got condolences so quickly. You can really see who your friends are, but this is not something I would want to continually test. It is funny to realize though, how critical the dropping of one word can completely change the meaning of a well-intended e-mail.

So, the lesson here is to be careful what you type, don't lose your words, and if you do, which we all will at some point or another in our life, then admit and correct the error, have a good laugh, and move on.

Until ...... (ooops, did I lose another word???)...