Wednesday, July 09, 2008

The memory eater is alive and well....


You know, not 10 seconds ago, I had 3 great ideas for posts. They are gone. The moment I hit the "new post" button, my brain takes that as a message to "delete all contents". Immediately. I do not lie. I was even going to write all 3 and line them up ready to post in the days to come. Maybe I should write about diminishing memory capacity here instead.

Are you like me? I read wonderful posts, with quotes littered all over the place, and I think, oh yes, I remember that one.... and I really do, but until I read it today, it is lost in the backwaters of my mind. I read it, savour it once again, and 5 minutes later?? Vanished. Bible verses are exactly the same. I can manage the first verse of Genesis and Psalm 23. There was a time once, when I could even identify the author of a well know quote. When I used to know poems by heart. Great hunks of Shakespeare. Useful stuff. Now I keep my mouth shut.

It is not as though my mind is idle. It whizzes all over the place, wrestles with its own demons, dances through memories, solves complex calculations, creates beautiful pictures, whirls through dreams, absorbs millions of written words. It thinks. It works. It does all that. But how much more has it forgotten?? It functions in every way it has to function, and as a mother, it is required to function in 29,502,387,537,363 ways at the same time at warp speed. It can do that. And I made up that number. You know what I mean. But can I remember the names of my friends' children? Hahahaha. I now call everyone "sweetie". It works for me. And I don't appear totally brain dead.

Quotes are in the same category as names. Shopping lists are there too. Important dates as well. Appointments. Thank heavens for a phone which beeps to remind me of these things. And my mother - see below. Music is another thing. I used to recognise classical music - and modern for that matter - instantly. Now I can say if I remember the song, but the person singing or the composer? Pah. Gone. The words? Unless I am singing loudly, they are also things fading away into the mists of time. Does this matter? Probably not, I agree. But it is so frustrating to admit that my memory is filing so much stuff in the "irrelevant" file. I want to decide what is relevant. That would be everything, of course.

Ironically, my memories of my childhhood and youth, or the years from about 3-25 are crystal clear. After that, it sems to all get jumbled up. I have even been known to call my own children "Andrew, Diana, David - whoever you are.....". Please tell me I am not the only one. Heaven help me if had had more children. Maybe glasses would have helped.

And the most frustrating thing of all is that my 82 year old mother has a memory as clear as daylight and as sharp as a razor. She remembers EVERYTHING. Genes are not all they are cracked up to be. Or it could be all the crossword puzzles she whizzes through. Do not ever offer to play scrabble with her either.

Maybe I should occupy all the time I seem to have by reading a thesaurus. And if anyone knows how to get rid of the memory eater, please feel free to let me know.

Mind you - I am a star when it comes to nursery rhymes. I can remember them all. I am a genius after all. It is the small things which count, people........

14 comments:

meggie said...

Oh! so ringing bells here! Grimms Fairy Tales, the cautionary Brer Fox etc. I am sure you know them all. I hate it when people stare blankley when you mention them, then you realise they were born after the '70s.
Linds, I am standing beside you!! Hugsxx

Barbara said...

Hi! Linds

Hope you post a pic. of all the arrangements when you are finished.
Glad your knee is easier.
Just caught up with your recent posts and glad you are feeling easier having seen Geoff's doctor.

Yes it would be nice to have the sun come back. At the beginning of summer I was spending lots of time at my computer when the weather was good telling myself that we had the whole summer yet to enjoy.
How wrong I was. Still I live in hope and will not make that mistake again.

Chris said...

Yes, Sweetie.

Those things happen to those of us in the genius category. As well as not being able to tell which direction is which or where we need to turn....

It's the cross we bear. :)

Crystal said...

Thank you for the hug this morning - and I know that you know. That helps somehow.

I know the dilemma you face about memory! Last week I forgot about a funeral - until DH reminded me the morning of it. He is starting to wonder if I have some dreaded disease but it's the volume of things and the speed at which moms must operate that does it, I'm sure. He forgot to take his jacket on a fishing trip yesterday but that doesn't seem to matter or count, according to him!

The flowers are looking lovely. Please post a picture of the hall so we can see everything in its finished glory. And take care with that knee - you don't want to injure it further.

Crystal said...

Thank you for the hug this morning - and I know that you know. That helps somehow.

I know the dilemma you face about memory! Last week I forgot about a funeral - until DH reminded me the morning of it. He is starting to wonder if I have some dreaded disease but it's the volume of things and the speed at which moms must operate that does it, I'm sure. He forgot to take his jacket on a fishing trip yesterday but that doesn't seem to matter or count, according to him!

The flowers are looking lovely. Please post a picture of the hall so we can see everything in its finished glory. And take care with that knee - you don't want to injure it further.

Needled Mom said...

Join the over 40 dilemma, Linds. Myself and most of my friends noticed it more after we reached that magical age.

That's a lot of flowers in the kitchen. I hope you are finding room to eat too. :)

Brenda@CoffeeTeaBooks said...

Oh, how I can relate.

I can't tell you how many times I've forgotten what I was thinking in just moments.

I have learned if I think of something for my blog, I have to quickly write it down or it will probably be gone forever. That is why I have various places where paper and pens are stored. :)

Hmmmm... they say wisdom comes with age. It is a very good thing considering everything that GOES with it, too.

someone else said...

You are not alone!! Boy, can I relate to all of this post.

Sandra said...

LOL you sound like me, I go through the same exact thing.

The minute I hit new post, it starts, I can't even come up with a good title nevermind a full post LOL

Judith said...

Linds, A picture of a light rose colored rose you posted the other day, is so good I could feel the rub of its petals. Have you considered seeing what you might do with your photography?

This I may just be dumb about, but are all those ivy looking plants in your house real ones?

How long since this memory failing set in? Could it have anything to do with cooking in aluminum pans?
Just kidding about that, but I had something else to ask you, and now ...............

Dawn said...

Oh, Linda - we are in the same boat - paddling madly to who knows where?? I think of posts when I'm out driving or riding my bike, then when I get home - GONE! I can't write notes when I"m biking, but I do when I"m driving. It is pathetic, isn't it?? I write wonderful phrases in my head, but it never stays there long enough to get down on "paper." So glad I"m not alone!

Anonymous said...

LOL, I must be your countrary. The moment I hit the new post button the words come to me :-)

Mary said...

urm
urm
urm
urm
urm






Nah, It's gone!

Linda said...

Oh Linds, I think we must have "twin brains" because you have just very accurately described mine. And the ironic thing is - my 84 year old mother is the very same as yours. Perhaps there's hope for us. Maybe when you hit really old age the memory begins to get better? Well it's a thought anyway.