Q. What is the throwaway-remark you would most like to throw away?

A.“I am having a Senior Moment

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We are a nation of 50, 60, 70-year-olds,  obsessed with a fear of memory lapse, absent-mindedness and forgetfulness.  Readers, please………..relax.

“Greater public awareness of Alzheimer’s, far from reducing the ignorance and stigma around the disease, has increased it,” says author Margaret Gullette, a scholar at Brandeis University.

My husband and I just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary.  We also marked his 13th year of Alzheimer’s. He remembered neither. So I can speak with some authority about how the ravages of this disease affect not only the victim but also family caretakers. Personal tsunami would not be too strong a term.

I just read “Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything” by Joshua Foer. In a publicity interview, Foer remarked, “Once upon a time people invested in their memories, they cultivated them. They studiously furnished their minds. Today, we’ve got books, computers and smart phones to hold our memories. We’ve outsourced our memories to external devices.”

“The result”, he continued, ”is that we no longer trust our memories. We see every small forgotten thing as evidence that they’re failing us altogether. We’ve forgotten how to remember.”

Q. How can we remember how to remember?

A. That’s simple.  it’s all about Lunch.

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As we get older, life seems to fly by faster and faster,” Foer continues.  “Our experiences become less unique, our memories can blend together. If yesterday’s lunch is indistinguishable from the one you ate the day before, it’ll end up being forgotten. In the same way, if you’re not doing things that are unique and different and memorable, this year can come to resemble the last, and end up being just as forgettable as yesterday’s lunch. That’s why it’s so important to pack your life with interesting experiences that make your life memorable, and provide a texture to the passage of time.”

As  Guelette reminds us, “Most forgetfulness is not Alzheimer’s, or dementia, or even necessarily a sign of cognitive impairment.”

When is the last time you actually memorized something?  Our brains need to be constantly challenged, tested, confronted, abused and aroused. The brain is an organ, and, to work properly, like any organ, it needs to be constantly tuned and played.

Experts recommend learning a foreign language. A great memory booster, they insist. That suggestion is equivalent to proposing a toddler learn to walk by summiting  Pikes Peak.  A noble venture, of course, but too grand and difficult for most. The Expert at my house (Me) advocates to always be memorizing something: simple; silly;  strange. This is what I’ve memorized (some, re-learning) since January.

1. The Capitals of our Fifty States. (A school project for granddaughter, Clara, a second-grader.  Not so easy.  Do YOU remember        the state capital of Pennsylvania?)

2. Two Ogden Nash Poems. “Crossing the Border” and “Celery”.

3. Using Geography Mnemonics. First, the Central American countries from North to South:  Big Gorillas Eat Hotdogs Not Cold Pizza (figure it out). Secondly, the countries across North Africa, from West to East: Many African Tourists Like Elephants.

4. The Kings and Queens of England:

Willie, Willie, Harry, Steve,

Harry, Dick, John, Harry Three,

Edward One, Two, Three, Dick Two,

Henry Four, Five, Six, then who?

Edward Four, Five, Dick the Bad,

Harrys twain and Ned, the lad.

Mary, Lizzie, James the Vain

Charlie, Charlie, James again

William and Mary, Anne o’Gloria,

Four Georges, William and Victoria.

Edward Seven, Georgie Five,

Edward, George and Liz (alive).

If you are asking yourself why I would want to know these things, you are missing the point!