The most recent episode happened on a Thursday evening. My friend Lorian came to my house to carpool to our writing group. It was good to see her, and I was happy to share a ride. We had a lively conversation, catching up. When we were almost to our destination, she mentioned eating a delicious peach that afternoon. That’s when I realized …
I’d forgotten the peach cake.
Just that morning, I’d found the recipe, selected the peaches, and made the whole thing from scratch. I’d even placed my creation on a fancy serving platter. And then, dammit, I’d left it wrapped in plastic, at home on my kitchen counter. Although I later described the delicious dessert in detail to my writing friends, it wasn’t quite the same as tasting it for real. I felt like a dunce.
Then last week I got a phone call from my friend Nan. We lunch together almost every week, and we take turns driving. So our first task was trying to figure out who’d driven last time. Neither one of us knew for sure! However, we remembered where we’d eaten brunch and recalled other places we’d gone on our outing, and eventually determined that I should drive this time.
But it took quite a bit of conversation to reach that conclusion.
I wish I could say these are two isolated memory-lapse instances, but unfortunately they’re not. My Kindle is rarely found where I’m sure I left it, and I’m convinced that it wanders the house when I’m not watching. The same thing goes for the magnetic tinted thingie that attaches to my glasses—you know, that thing that turns regular glasses into sunglasses. It only surfaces on cloudy days. Sigh. I joke about these lapses, but there’s always a nagging worry …
Are these the beginning signs of Alzheimers?
Several days ago I came across an article on AARP’s website that made me feel a little better. Not only did it reassure me that such memory blips are normal, it gave solutions for dealing with them. You might be relieved by what they have to say on the subject and want to try their remedies yourself, if you ever share my problem.
Until I remember to apply all of AARP’s suggestions, I’ve learned to rely on sticky notes. I put one on the door leading to the garage, reminding me to take the canvas shopping bags with me to the grocery store. I stuck one on my car keys, nudging me to pick up my husband’s suits at the dry cleaners, stop by the pharmacy, and get cash from the ATM. But this morning as I drove to my destinations, I realized I’d forgotten the one stuck to the refrigerator. Hmmm… was it two pounds of peaches or two-and-a-half? With a sigh I wondered: Will my writing friends ever get to taste peach cake?
Links:
AARP: 6 Types of Normal Memory Lapses:
http://www.aarp.org/health/brain-health/info-08-2012/memory-lapses-that-are-normal.html?intcmp=HPBB1C
Peach cake recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. There’s even a video! http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/detail.php?docid=29695&incode=M**ASCA00
Lee Sinclair
Dee Ernst
Sharon Tillotson
Lynn Schneider
Sandra Nachlinger
Wait, who wrote this? Just kidding! God spoke to me about this sort of thing. One day I will share it on a blog. Thanks for the smiles!
Thanks for stopping by, Deirdre. I’m looking forward to reading your post.
Well, that’s a relief, Sandra Nachlinger! I just spent several minutes in the kitchen searching for the bread twist tie when it was between my lips the whole time! Thanks for the laugh.
I’m laughing because I’ve done the same thing. It’s a good thing we can laugh about it, isn’t it?
Thanks for making me smile. Take heart: forgetfulness is the new normal!
Right. Just like 60 is the new 40?
It was a relief to hear that I’m not the only one afflicted by this. How many times have I walked into a room and wondered, what am I doing in here? What was it that I needed to do, or get? It happens to all of us, at a certain age. But still it can be worrisome, especially those of us with a family history of Alzheimer’s. Thanks for a good post, Sandra!
I’m glad you enjoyed the post, Lynn, and could relate. By the way, the peach cake is really good.
Your forgetfulness is my laugh for the day! As always, Sandy, you make me smile. Next time I am standing in front of the fridge with the door wide open, trying to remember what the heck I opened the dang thing for, I will think of you! Loved this!
And I thought you were just trying to be cool.
Sandy, you are a delight. Thanks for the laugh.
Hi, Diane. Thanks for stopping by to say “hi.”
I can totally relate! I go out to the back porch to get something and I have no clue why I’m there! So I retrace my steps to the kitchen and then I see something that reminds me what I was looking for on the back porch. And so it goes!
I hate misplacing my glasses because then I can’t see to find them!
What a great laugh, Sandy. How about leaving the bedroom and getting to the kitchen and you can’t remember what you came for? More to come I’m afraid. All the best, Mary Firmin, Deadly Pleasures.
According to AARP, we’re normal. But it’s no fun being normal, is it?
I left the house the other day to make a deposit at the bank. Got half way to the bank and remembered that I forgot the money.
Can you hear me laughing? Not laughing AT you; laughing WITH you.
My excuse is menopause. Did you know there are 35 symptoms? One of which is memory losses. Yikes!
Thirty-five? Well, that explains a lot!
I have been amazed at how many of my mysterious challenges – from memory loss to itchy skin — are apparently related to menopause. Here’s a link to a useful website: http://www.34-menopause-symptoms.com/
Thanks for the link to the list, Anne. It helps to have an explanation.
Whew!! So it’s okay when I go to sleep with my sun glasses on top of my head and find them there intact the next morning? I also never realize I’ve got my shirt on backwards until I ‘m at the doctor’s office.I don’t feel so alone now–by the way who are you peole lol?
Micki
I’ve never slept with my sunglasses on my head, but … it could happen!
Once again, Sandy, your post is so timely. The other day I truly wondered if I should make an appt with my Doc to test for Alzheimer’s when I got some cognitive exercise or other completely backward. Of course I can’t remember now what it was…
I hope the AARP article eased some of your concerns (and maybe my post brought a smile too).
I had to share on Facebook and Twitter. I have a friend at work that slaps her post-its on her chest so she doesn’t forget whatever she’s trying to remember. Should she forget, we all remind her of the pink post-it on her… well, you know.
I can just imagine those post-it notes fluttering as she walks by! Thanks for the Facebook post and Tweet.
Tweeted and posted to fb: A MUST read for all you Seniors! Of course, they are not always SENIOR moments. . .consolation for the seniors: it happens at any age!
Here is a recent true story: My husband and I left the house for Ace Hardware. When we stopped at the hardward store, we looked at each other quizzically with an expression that said “Don’t seem to know why we are here.” I spoke first, “I do remember when we left the house where we were going but now that we are here, I have no idea why.” He howled!
Thank you for the tweet and FB post. They’re sincerely appreciated. Thanks too for sharing your own memory-blip story. Did it help to have someone experience it with you? At least you could both laugh about it!
A biggie for me is remembering wher I parked when I go to the grocery store, mall etc. I’ve spent as much as 10 minutes walking around looking for my car with a full grocery cart. Don’t want to even begin to think what people who notice are thinking..
OMG Peggy, I cannot tell you how many times that has happened. The worst though is forgetting which car you drove and keeping on looking for the car you obviously left at home! LOL:>)
My car is a silver sedan, which describes 90% of the cars in any given parking lot. Sometimes I walk through the aisles of cars, clicking my remote key thingie, just to find where it’s hiding.
LOL, Peggy, I always park my car in the same place at both grocery stores I use. That way, I always know where to find it.
But yesterday, I had to go to the UPS Store which is in a strip mall, and I wasn’t able to park in front of it, as I usually do. Had to park about 6 cars down.
When I returned, I walked right up to the SUV that was parked in front of the store’s door, and tried to open the door. I had to step over a puddle to do so, and I remember thinking, “I don’t remember that puddle being there when I came in.
Of course the vehicle’s door was locked, so when I couldn’t open it, I “came to” that it wasn’t my car.
Thing is, I don’t even drive an SUV. The only thing my car has in common with that one is that they are both black. (And to my credit, there were about 4 cars in a row that were all black.)
I am so thankful the car’s owner didn’t come out and see me!
I’ve done that, Anne!
Anne, once, by mistake, I actually got INTO a car that was unlocked that was the same make, model and color as mine. LOL
LOL, Elise, You didn’t! So did you finally come to when the key wouldn’t work in the ignition? Or was it that you didn’t recognize the coffee mug in the cup holder?
Anne, as embarrassing as it is, I actually tried to put the key in the ignition! LOL!
All of you are making me feel so much better! I guess it really must be normal to have senior moments.
I refuse to call them ‘senior moments’; they are rolling mental blackouts! And sometimes my train of thought gets derailed in the middle of a sentence, too! I like to think it’s because there is so much wisdom tucked away in my brain, that it’s hard to cram any more stuff in there. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!!
Interesting theory, Ruth!
I just returned from spending two days with my 85 year-old-aunt who could not remember her cousins last name or where her garbage can was. I had to tell her several times that, when using her new cell phone, dial the number THEN hit send. Why did she need a new cell phone? She forgot to pay her bill and they shut off her landline. Be grateful that we’ve all got quite a few years of forgetting the silly things before we start forgetting the important ones. By then, I’ll have post-it notes stuck all over my body!
Dee, that’s a sobering story about your aunt. My experience with my parents and cell phones is a bit spotty. A year ago I was driving my mother and step-father on the Interstate around Milwaukee. We were there for a family wedding, and I needed to call another family member to check some arrangement details. My mother offer to make the call, so I handed her my cell phone. When she gave it back to me, she’d totally removed the Body Glove case it was in. Apparently she thought she couldn’t use the phone without “unwrapping” it.
But then again, I didn’t even recognize the phone without the cover. Told her that wasn’t my phone… So I guess that says sad things about both of us!
The bathroom in the flat I once lived in was downstairs. I once ran a bath and then realised I’d forgotten the towel. I went upstairs to my bedroom seven times. On each occasion I performed some small and mindless task while I was up there. But seven times I returned to the bathroom without the towel. By the time I got the towel – on the eight try – the bath was cooling. If I have altzheimers it started early and is slow growing. I was 20. Yet, for someone with a memory as poor as mine, it amazes me how many passwords, pin numbers, email, website and blog addresses I am now (usually) able to recall.
Who needs a stair-climber machine? Sounds like you got plenty of exercise going up and down the stairs, fetching things you’d forgotten.