Memory Loss Is Not The End of Life

 I was 45 (I am nearly 75 now) when my boss said to me, “John, you could hide your own Easter eggs.”  I was not at all offended and enjoyed a good laugh with him about that because he was right and that was a fun way to put it.  I won’t bother with many examples of my short-term memory loss but will discuss how it affects me.

My short term memory loss does frustrate me at times.  Short-term I cannot remember the name of an actor on a series my wife and I were watching just a few hours ago.  The good news here is every time I watch a repeat episode it is a new experience to me! There is no reminder that will help me remember the name of an actor but that is where IMDB (a phone app encyclopedia of everything on film) is so helpful.  I use post-its and the alarm program on my cell phone constantly...as well as the timer on the microwave; my Google calendar. Understanding a problem and employing tricks to minimize its damage is important and I am not at all embarrassed to admit I use every reminder I can. 

There is nothing dangerous about my lack of short-term memory.  I do not leave the stove on when I leave the house.  I don’t forget where I parked my car in the parking lot (but try to park it in the same spot every time) and if I do, I laugh it off, ask others if they knew where I parked it (many strange looks) and eventually find it.  I have had all tests currently in use, from interviews to brain scans that demonstrate there is nothing wrong with my brain (a fact questioned by my enemies) and my doctors attribute my memory loss to aging.  I am okay with that and don’t need multiple opinions.

The fun news is my long term memory.  Neurologists have long known that long term memory is a function of a different part of the brain and those experiences that are stored there can be stored at any stage of life though the storage takes place more in younger life.  It is my long term memory that provides me a great deal of entertainment.

Having recently divorced myself from politics - almost - my long-term memory is now less important to me than when I was active in politics but on MANY occasions I have written to people (Facebook, You Tube) who obviously hate our democratic republic, criticizing conservatives for acts that I can prove (with links) that Marxists in our country have done as well.  In the typical conversation that is the end of the discussion. And I smile, once again victorious! Over the last year my favorites have been speeches of Chuck Schumer (idiot democratic senator from New York) clearly blaming Trump for the exact same actions Obama took and reversing positions when such actions worked to the benefit of the democrats and criticized Republicans.  I have a video from the 90’s demonstrating Al Sharpton’s declarations that whites and cops must be murdered. I believe that I have extraordinary long-term memory.  Recently some graduate of an Ivy League college (I just have to assume) nicknamed Trump a “baby snatcher.”  I asked him if he recalled Bill Clinton’s DoJ goon Janet Reno removing a Cuban child from a closet at rifle point... another discussion quickly abbreviated. My second wife (I am now married for the third time and she is the keeper) once said I could “name that tune on one note.”  I love music and for the most part she is right...but I cannot recall where my car keys are when I have them in my hand.

Because I have no medical reason to be worried about dementia, I live with the frustration of my short-term memory failure but accept it as a result of aging and remain thankful for the faculties that I have not lost. My boss was right and when I tell that story to others I still laugh.  As long as I can remember for whom to NOT vote at election time -  I rarely vote any more because the parties are often indistinguishable and I do not subscribe to “lesser of evils” voting. When I do vote, it is Libertarian.

My short-term memory loss is just one of many nuisances of aging and until I cannot remember where the bathroom is I am not going to worry about it. But, If anyone asks me about this post tomorrow, I will have no idea what they are talking about.