Where Did I Leave My Glasses? The What, When, and Why of Normal Memory Loss
by Martha Weinman Lear
Published by Wellness Central/Division of Hachette
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Reviewed By Michele E. Davis
There is that niggling little fear that you’ve forgotten something, it happens to all of us, usually regardless of age. My friend Shelly was talking to me on the phone and she asked me, “Hey, do you know this woman, um, she’s on my caller ID?” I ask, “What’s her name?” Shelly responds, “I don’t know, I can’t remember, I have to find the phone and look at caller ID.” I’m quiet while Shelly ambles through her house looking for her phone, which as best I know, since I’m on the other end, is attached to her hand and ear. Shelly’s staccato laughs, “Oh, I am so dumb, I have the phone in my hand.”
Exactly! Author MARTHA WEINMAN Lear with sensitivity and wit talks about all the feelings that accompany the fact that we think we’re going into early senile dementia when we forget small details, for example, that I often forget the name of a parent of one of my children’s friends. I can’t keep track of all of them, most of the time they are just a voice on the other end of the phone line, and then I’ll see them at the market and I can’t remember which kid is friends with their kid, and who is their kid anyway? But baffling enough I remember their face. According to Lear and her research, this is absolutely normal. This is not early senile dementia. There are also easy ways to remember things.
Some easy ways to remember things are: make lists; associate someone’s name with a rhyme, or a factoid about them. Remember that you just met Chuck Stein and he has a black Lab named Zorro. Every time you see Chuck, you ask how the Lab is doing, even if you can’t remember Chuck’s name. Memorize by repetition at certain intervals. For example, repeat a person’s name, then wait ten seconds and repeat it gain, then wait twenty seconds and repeat. Incrementally increase the time between repetitions and your memory will improve.
A fantastic book filled with levity related to a grave concern a lot of people have about memory loss, along with great advice on how to grasp the information you need that is just out of reach, and don’t forget, it’s perfectly normal.
Armchair Interviews says: Good news. It’s perfectly normal.