Remember this word - Mnemonic

One of my sharpest skills is juggling, sorting, and retaining information. For a writer, it may be more important than stringing sentences together to make a paragraph. (After all, there are editors. LOL.)

To keep this skill sharp, I frequently use mnemonic, a kind of memory aid. Been doing so ever since grade school when I was taught to remember the names of the Great Lakes by HOMES - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.

One of the best birthday gifts I received last Aug. 18 was a follow-up birthday wish from my older brother. A school teacher, he was prepping his classroom for the new academic year and while updating his "This Day in History" desk calendar, he saw that the Women's Suffrage Amendment was ratified on Aug. 18, 1920. So, he sent me the calendar page along with a nice note telling me how fitting it is that I was born on such a milestone date. Our mother would agree.

I used to be embarrassed because I could never remember what Constitutional Amendment Women's Suffrage was, but today I devised a mnemonic. The Women's Suffrage Amendment was ratified on Aug. 18, it is the 19th amendment, and the year was 1920. Easy to remember - 18, 19, 20.