Memory Work

I heard about a study yesterday that I found very reassuring.  It seems that 60 years ago some scientists tested the memory strength of a group of eight year olds.  Now, 60 years later they (probably not the same scientists??) are comparing the memory ability back then to memory strength in the same people at age 68.  I don't know what final conclusions they will draw but it looks like good memory strength at 8 does seem to be reflected in good memory strength 60 years later.  I find this interesting because back when I was 8 years old, and for all my elementary school days I had memory work every day.  It was something they did in the Lutheran schools.  Every day of the school year we had an assignment to memorize, either a Bible passage or the words of a hymn.  By eighth grade, in preperation for Confirmation we had memorized all of Luther's Small Catecism and so much more.  My 7th and 8th grade teacher (it was a small school, one teacher to two grades) used to tell us that we should memorize each assignment so thoroughly that if we fell out of bed in the middle of the night we could recite it backwards.  I do believe that all the practice memorization really helped me do well in high school and college and I know it has helped me learn my lines in plays I've been in.  Now it seems hopeful that all that brain exercise might help me get through a few more years with a decent memory.  I'm grateful to all of the hard working and oh so patient teachers in my life and it seems appropriate to remember them on All Saints Day.