Losing my memory

I’ve been losing my memory at an accelerating pace. I find it interesting. Maybe one day I will find it disturbing, or even frightening.

But not yet.

Thanks, good genes.

When I first knew I was losing it

I remember the first time that I realized I was losing my memory.

I didn’t just forget a fact.

I realized I’d lost an entire category of cognitive ability.

Until that day, I would not have used a phrase like “I don’t know if I’ve told you this” because I knew. (Or I believed that I knew).

After I learned that some people don’t remember everything that I’ve said (I did remember) I might say “I don’t know if you remember when I told you this, but…” And if they didn’t remember I might add, helpfully, “Don’t you remember? We were…” and I’d describe the circumstances.

Until that day, if you told me something you’d already told me I’d interrupt and say: “You told me that before” and I might add, helpfully, “Don’t you remember? We were…” and describe the circumstances.

I never had an eidetic memory.

I was jealous of people who did.

But my memory was pretty darned good.

I couldn’t remember something just by reading or hearing. But I could get close.

And if I wrote it down, longhand, I’d remember it in detail.

Anyway, that’s what I remember I could do.

Then one day I realized that I couldn’t do that anymore.

I was around 12.

Or so I remember.

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