You know that moment when you walk into a room and completely forget why you went there? Or when someone you've known for years walks up to you at the grocery store and their name just... vanishes from your brain? Last week, I spent ten minutes searching for my reading glasses while they were sitting on top of my head. My first thought wasn't "oh, silly me." It was "Is this how it starts?"
It may be time to have a different conversation with your friend. Perhaps she is having memory problems. See if you can cite at least three instances when your friend has recounted a different version of a story to you than you remember. Tell her that you are concerned about her memory, and give her these examples as evidence. Know that she is likely to push back. Tell her anyway.
A couple of weeks ago, I found myself crying in the park. It was supposed to be just a typical summer day. I was enjoying my usual stroll with my dog, Boni. The sun was shining, and the shade of the trees provided a very welcoming shelter from the burning sun. Children were running and laughing, and their joy drew me in. Two of them, tiny three-year-olds, were squealing, all happy, wearing Hawaiian-style skirts and flowers around their necks.
A year ago tomorrow , the Zacatecas native suffered a heart attack and mild stroke in the moments after seeing his Dodgers win Game 2 of the World Series against the New York Yankees. He spent three days in a medically induced coma at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood and regained consciousness to news from jubilant nurses that the Dodgers had won the championship.
During a family dinner last year, she interrupted our meal - "You know, your great-grandfather was an illegal bootlegger. He even invented a popular cocktail." She launched into stories about secret liquor production behind a clothing store, an unheard-of relative on the lam called "South American Joe," and narrow escapes from the law. My father occasionally interrupted by saying, "That didn't happen," but my wife, kids, and I were completely captivated.
