What is a Memory?
CeCe’s Musings: Now why did I come downstairs?
Day 11
642 Things to Write About by The San Francisco Writers’ Group
Chronicle Books, 2011
Writing Prompt: Losing your memory
What are memories? Why are some prominent and others slip away? Can we make memories? What triggers a memory? Do we hoard them like doomsday preppers, hoping to store enough in case of disaster? Why do we forget names yet remember a moment from 1977?
Our brains are complicated, and I cannot fein to know much about how they work. I’ve read articles and listened to podcasts about Alzheimer’s and dementia, hoping to glean some bit of advice on how to stave off my own memory loss. My family history is fraught with diagnoses: my father, his sisters, and my mother. I do know, according to medical research, a genetic component is rare. It is more likely caused by environmental or lifestyle factors such as pollution, diet, exercise, and/or smoking.
I gulp up every bit of knowledge and attempt to eat a Mediterranean diet, meditate, practice yoga, walk, socialize with friends, do high intensity interval training (HIIT), strength training, and get regular medical and dental checkups. I refuse to give up, yet acknowledge all may be discarded as the years advance. Right now I have regular symptoms of aging, annoying but not dementia. I often walk into a room and forget why I am there. Names, especially if they aren’t a significant part of my daily life, allude me. Yet, I can clearly remember a small moment from junior high or where I was in 1984 when I hear a certain song on the radio. Once again, our brains are perplexing, especially to the experts, and that may be the reason Alzheimer’s research still hasn’t developed a cure after all these years.
What are the memories I hope not to lose? I want to remember the important days, like the births of my children, weddings, and other significant events, but I also hope to hang onto those small moments. Rock’s hand in mine. Long phone calls with my sister. A cat in my lap. My dad’s voice. These snippets, along with thousands of others, are the collections of memories that make up my life. This one miraculous, fabulous, quirky, simple, amazing, and precious life of mine.
“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.” ~ Dr. Seuss
