More mind games

Collectively, we are losing our minds. I know this because I am writing more and more notes to remind my friends to remember to do certain things. 

Add those notes to the notes I already write on my iPhone notebooks so I can remember what I need to do each day, and you will understand the callouses on my fingertips. Note to self: paraffin treatment and manicure for birthday treat. 

My mom and I used to joke about taking Ginko Biloba or St. John's Wort or some other magical herbal treatment to improve our memories. Alzheimer's and/or dementia didn't run on her side of the family. While the bodies of the matriarchs on her side of the tree began to fail in their 80s, their minds remained sharp and intact til the end. We joked about not being able to remember the name of the supplements, or even when to take them. Sometimes, before she passed in February, we laughed about not remembering having the conversation about memory loss.

The Hallmark people are not helping me. They have not expanded the selection of birthday cards enough to prevent me from sending the same birthday cards to friends year after year. One kind friend just pointed out at lunch today that that card I picked may just be the perfect card for that perfect friend. 

Another one of my friends suggested we just resend the cards we open, back and forth, each year. For a while I was buying a lot of belated birthday cards because I could not remember dates. My iPhone has helped fix that problem.

Recently I re-received a fantastic cookbook from my girlfriend in New York, penned by Sirius radio personality Frank DeCaro, one of her dear friends. It was inscribed to me, thanking me for a Fiesta ceramic dinnerware bowl I sent Frank for his collection. 

I have never met Frank, but I remembered he was a collector. The things I do remember. Fiesta collectors have to stick together to preserve the integrity of the original pieces and colors from the 1930s. 

Funny, the reason I sent Frank the rare Fiesta piece was because he had already sent me the same cookbook, at my girlfriend's request, when it first came out. She remembered my son was a foodie and a fan of celebrity chefs. The first book was also inscribed to me. 

My girlfriend -- whose mom was also one of the sharpest, wittiest women I have ever known, until her body gave up the fight -- and I also had a good laugh when I shared the story with her about her cookbook gift that keeps on giving.  She vowed to keep a better gift/card list. I vowed to actually look at the one I have, wherever it is.
Meantime, now both of my children will inherit a copy of a very clever cookbook. 

I use staving off losing my memory as a daily excuse to do Sudoku puzzles and play Words With Friends. My children are fourth generation Scrabble players. My grandmother and mom both insisted the game swept the cobwebs away. I studied for the SAT in the 70s by constantly playing Scrabble with my mom. Even when her vision was impaired by macular degeneration (another bonus in my gene pool), she could still beat me in Scrabble.

At the peak of my sports editing days I kept track of some 75 Florida high schools' coaches and athletes for readers in eight counties. Now I find myself with four bottles of the same mustard in the cupboard because as I peruse the grocery aisles, I can't remember if I am running low at home.
Most of my book group read the book Still Alice (hold on I am Googling the author -- Lisa Genova ) a few years back. It's a story about a 50-year-old professional woman with Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease. Most of us, along with the main character, flunked the cognitive tests peppered throughout the book's pages. We passed around dessert and chalked the symptoms up to peri-menopause. Luckily we all found our car keys, our cars and our the way back to our own homes. 
I have been trying to return assorted trays and dishes friends left at my house during the holidays. As if meshing each other's schedules is not difficult enough, if both parties are forgetting stuff, little stuff gets done.
After remembering to put said trays in the right car to deliver, I texted my friend  -- a woman I worked with for months to organize the senior class party at our kids' high school -- to find out when she would be home today for a handoff. Her text response:
"Don't know. I don't know how long I'll be at work. If I remember, I will call you when I leave."
I am sooooo happy to not be alone*.

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*After I first posted this my friend called to tell me she remembered to call and she came by to pick up her platters.
Also Brian Williams, of NBC Nightly News fame, reported on the SAGE (Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam) test the folks at Ohio State University put together to help people detect early signs of Alzheimer's. For more information, go to http://sagetest.osu.edu/ or check out the the Nightly News' link.