Friday Follies - Now, What Was His Name?

I'll put my hand up, I'm happy to admit it.  I've got memory problems.

Sometimes I can't remember an event from childhood....fair enough, I think.  That's getting to be quite a long time ago.  I know that the memories are still there, hidden away in a little room in my brain with the door shut.  They can be retrieved though, and with a bit of prompting the door will open and the memory will peak out, exclaiming 'Here I am!  I'm still here!'  That's always a relief, let me tell you.  I bask in the memory, savour the remembered sights, sounds and feelings until it drifts quietly away, back behind the closed door, in hiding until I can tease it out again.

I really, really hope so.

Sometimes I can't remember recent things or even current events, such as 'Why on earth did I walk into this room?'  Once I walk out and get distracted with some other task, it all comes back to me (although to be honest, sometimes I get a repeat as I go back into the room after my 'A-HA' moment, only to discover an 'On No' moment, as I am once again baffled as to why I am standing there.).

I'm not too worried, I know that it's a natural part of aging, that my hormonal changes play a part in it, and possibly some damage done to my neurons in my youth.  I accept it, I embrace it as normal and I live with it.

I know that if a name of something eludes me, I just get on with things and the name will pop into my head at a later time.   Sometimes quite quickly, sometimes not.  But I almost always get there, so I'm not too worried....yet.

I also know that I have good and bad days.  Some days are shocking.  Not only can't I remember things, I can't seem to cope with daily tasks, such as turning the kettle on after I fill it with water, or putting the milk into the fridge - instead of the pantry.  I'm sure it's just a funny little form of enrichment that my brain is playing on me...'What will we find in the cupboard today?'.

Yup, that's me.

Sticky notes, reminders on my emails and alerts on my phone are very helpful, and I use them with great abandon.

But the thing that puts my mind at ease more than anything else is knowing that I'm not alone.

You should hear me and my co-workers, our conversations would be impossible to follow to anyone outside of our (age) group.  They go a little something like this...

'So, I watched a great movie on the weekend.'

'Oh yeah?  Who was in it?'

'That guy...you know...the guy...the one...oh, I can't remember his name.  Blonde?  Short?  He was in that TV show.'

'What TV show?'

'You know...that show...the one where they work in that office.  I can't remember what they did, but it had that lady in it.  You know...the one with the dark hair?  She's been in some movies too.'

'Hmmmm, not sure who you mean.  What was the movie about?'

'Well, they were going to some country...there was this bad guy...you know...the old guy actor?  He always plays a bad guy?  Really good - he's been in lots of movies.'

'Oh! I know what movie you mean.  We saw it the other week.  Can't remember what it was called though.  I think the title had one or two words in it.'

'Yes!  That's the one...you know...THAT actor.'

'Yup, can't remember his name.  Last name starts with a P?  I can't remember his name, but I know he was dating Angelina Jolie for awhile, and was divorced twice.  His mother is famous too.'

And that's how it is.  Pathetic isn't it?  Someone will Google and find out all of the relevant names and information, and there will be a collective 'ahhhhh!' that goes through the office. 

Thank goodness for Google.

We all were talking about the same thing, and that's the sad bit - that we all understand each other.  Does failing memory move between people by osmosis, or does it sync like women's monthly visits?  I'm not sure, but it sure seems to be contagious.

This could be our office.