Obladi

This weeks Obladi post is on forgetting things as we get older.

One of my friends keeps saying she has senile dementia because she forgets things. She feels she is forgetting more than usual. For one thing she couldn’t remember Tom Cruise’s name. That really is understandable to me and something I would happily forget, but this upset her when it took us awhile to get the name.

A doctor once explained it to me this way. Everyone tends to forget things regardless of age, and yes, we do start forgetting more as we age, but that’s expected. Forgetting where you put your keys, your shoes, the remote control is just that – being forgetful. Dementia or Alzheimer’s is when you forget what the keys, shoes, or remote are and how they are used.

Do you find you’re forgetting more the older you get? Any funny stories? Crazy stories? Sad stories? Stories about things you have forgotten.

I guess the funniest thing I've done is something I've done not once, but twice! When sending cards to my mom I put her name, her street address and then instead of Erie, PA I put Sumter, SC. I tell her I keep trying to move her. It's not that I forget where my mother lives, but that I am used to putting Sumter, SC as the city and state with most of my mailings, so it is an automatic thing to do. My mom thinks this is the funniest thing and calls it my senior moment.

Oh, I forget other things, but nothing much more drastic than when I was younger. With a lot on my plate these days I have to make a grocery list for anything over five items or I will forget something.

I think one of the reasons we forget little things as we get older is we are doing a lot more with our time. As young people we didn't have a lot of the responsibilities we have now and the more you have to do the more you have to remember, and as a wise doctor once pointed out, thus the more you have to forget.