Sometimes, the passage of time can seem to be cruel.  As my memory problems seem to increase daily, I find myself questioning so many of the things I am doing.  For instance, the forgetting of why I was going somewhere in my house and what I was going to do once I got there.  I know that it happens to most of us, as we age.  And this has been a memory issue for me for quite a long time.  But the frequency of this behavior has increased exponentially!

When I am in a conversation, I will stop mid-sentence because I forgot where I was going with it.  Increasingly, names of people are disappearing.  And I used to have such a great memory for names.  I mourn this like a death.  And indeed, it is a kind of death.  I grieve its absence.

In spite of the fact that my friends and family put up with these behaviors, I am so embarrassed when it happens.  I look at photographs from the past and can’t remember so many of the people we knew when we lived in a different state.  And the people I live around and know now are in the same category, which is worse.

Song lyrics are disappearing.  And this is a problem for me because I am a singer.  I used to be able to sing so many songs by heart.  And now I have to look up the words.  But, at least now I can ask my phone and they magically appear before my eyes.  

Writing is less of an issue because I can look almost anything up on the internet and find many answers to my queries.  Spell check takes care of any spelling errors.  All of those things are good news.   

I have decided that the only thing I can do to mitigate these issues is to be more grateful for the many things I still can do.  After all, memory is a gift and I have been blessed with a wonderful one for many years.  It has enriched my life in so many ways.  It’s good to remember that being grateful always helps, no matter what happens in our lives.