The Dora Hunter Spiva Memory Technique

Cousin Dora, age 103, and me on the right, June 1, 2008

Tick...tick...tic...ti...t...

Just three days from now will be phase one of our high school class reunion.

It will be special to me. . This will be my first class reunion. Am I a social butterfly or what?

My late distant cousin Dora Hunter Spiva (10 Feb 1905 - 24 Feb 2009) was a school teacher in Blairsville for many years. She went to all high school reunions of Union County. She remembered everybody and called them by name or nickname, or so it appeared.

She lived to be one hundred and four years. That was what was so remarkable, being age 104, or maybe 102, or anything 60 and over just waltz in a reunion and called her former students by name.

At the Hunter Reunions I attended in Blairsville I always talked to Dora, she was sharp, witty, and bubbling with personality. And by her conversation to me made me think she remembered me…. or did she?

The day before each high school reunion she would have pulled out the year book that had the pictures of the class that was having the reunion and study over and over the pictures and study her own notes, and recent pictures of the same people. I’m sure they were filed under some type of indexing system. But even though she fooled people with her memory abilities, she was foxy enough to pull off such a thing… which I think was still remarkable for her age.

Dora died at age 104, about eight months after the above picture was taken.

Now, I have my 1960 Olympian pulled out, blew the dust off and I am studying each picture and trying to relate it to the name. I am trying to apply the Dora Hunter Spiva technique. I am surprised at myself for not remembering many names. So, all I have to do is remember all the names with the matching picture and lose about 50 pounds before Friday.