I do like that song from years ago, though my memories of late have been more of the “misty, water-colored” type they mention in the lyrics. I’ve become quite forgetful the past two years, it seems to me.
As we enter the beginning of the third year of this global pandemic (which I hope and pray is on its’ final notes), I became quite interested in the research done in the UK and other European country’s Departments of Health. They have been finding that – not surprisingly – as a result of the pandemic loneliness, feelings of isolation, depression, and anxiety are on the rise all over the world. Even with folks who weren’t feeling lonely or depressed, however, these studies found increased problems with memory.
Huzzah! Oh, thank goodness! There are a lot of reasons why my memory might be going haywire, and I’m happy to blame the pandemic for it rather than any of the others!
Mind you, I’m not talking about my normal memory skills. I mean, I realize that even before the pandemic I had a tendency to do ditzy things. For example, once I called my husband in a panic, sitting amongst the detritus of my updumped purse, sobbing to him that I couldn’t find my phone. He calmly replied, “Honey, look in your hand.”
“It’s empty,“ I wailed, looking at my right hand.
“Look in your other hand,” he said. Well, duh.
And then there was the time I walked past his car on the driveway, got into my car which was in front of his, and backed out of the driveway – smacking his car right in the radiator.
So, yes, strange brain things have not been a stranger to me.
But this past week was something else. First, I went to see a friend and we went out to lunch. When the bill came, I reached into my purse to pull out my wallet. Gone. Not there! I took every single thing out of the purse and no wallet was present. I went to the car and searched. My poor friend had to spring for the whole deal – and I drove home without a license.
Okay, maybe misplacing your wallet doesn’t seem like a big deal, but I never don’t have my wallet. Never. Seriously. So that was freaky.
The very next day, we went to a play. I carefully put some cash, my ID, lipstick, some readers, and my phone in the tiny cross-body bag I take to the theatre. After dinner, I opened the little secret zippered section for the money and paid. I also did that at the theatre to buy a drink.
When we arrived home, I emptied the little bag to put all the items in my big purse. The lipstick, readers, phone, and money were all there. My drivers’ license was not there! Nor was it in the car, at the restaurant, or at the theater! So now I get the delightful task of going to get a new license – three full years earlier than necessary.
Joy. These things usually come in threes, so who knows what I’ll be forgetting this week. But whatever it is – it’s all the fault of the pandemic! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
DO not worry, Sis ! You will remember where it is sometime in the middle of the next couple nights – or when you happen to NOT expect to pay for something and the need arises for YOU to help out and you will suddenly remember exactly where and when you left it = not that it will help THAT situation, but find it for sure- several times I have found myself without an item I needed to use – always have it in a certain place. but that day – I changed my “habitual” place and made up a new one – which I will now have to focus on so I will remember that new place like the old place! Hey, some folks call it “the game of life” – I simply call it “the DT”s” – oh yeah, that is “The Devils Torture” of me!
plus love the words Ditsy – which I knew about from Mom – but detritus I had never heard or used before – so, I asked Alexa, who said it means “debris” – is that what you meant in describing the contents of your “purse”????
Indeed, my purse is filled with debris. And also important stuff. That’s why it weighs 73 pounds.
Seventy-three pounds! I would need a little red wagon to haul that around! If it’s important stuff, you must be carrying maybe ten Airsoft Guns with kick-ass recoil!!! Sorry, I have to go back and read Susie’s latest Snippet to find out what everyone is talking about, but it sure sounds interesting. I guess I’m different. I looked at the Snippet and saw three comments, and I just had to read them! Later, alligator.
First of all, I apologize for the crass remark I made in my first comment. I had Googled Aircraft Guns which weigh about seven pounds each which would be 70 pounds. It’s important that we women have protection! Three more pounds could have been debris. But Google stated that about the recoil of the guns. Maybe I should have said kick-butt. When my grandmother said the S-word, I was maybe seven years old and I was totally shocked. I said loudly, “Grandma, that’s a bad word!” She said, “Oh, child… it’s just a man-made word.” 🤔 I wondered why I wasn’t allowed to say those man-made words.
Why wouldn’t people feel lonely, isolated, depressed and anxious when we’ve had shots and boosters, and still got Covid! We’ve been masked, kept at home, don’t have gatherings even with family, stand so many feet apart at stores, no eating out etc, etc. I am not a good cook! I enjoy eating out! Why wouldn’t we have increased problems with memory!
People need to socialize! We need good conversation with others, joking and laughter that stimulates the heart and lung muscles and increases the endorphins released by the brain! Did you know that depression is the most common cause of memory problems?! With depression many of the mental processes are slowed, and memory is particularly affected. Unfortunately worries about memory loss can worsen the depression. I see a vicious cycle here.
I’m thinking about getting myself an intelligent virtual assistant that can perform tasks and services based on commands or questions. But will that help my memory? Half the time when I’m looking for something, it’s in my armpit! A good carry place. Maybe I should stick to laughter. It seems I heard somewhere that it’s good like a medicine! And… in the misty, water-colored memories, it was the laughter they remembered.
Susie, you always keep me thinking, laughing and curious. Thank you.
As always you have one really great friend there Sis – she always has good insights and is very funny to boot – hope you keep this up — still think Readers Digest is missing the mark for once!!