Opus 2023-323: Thanks for the Memory

Memory is truly a blessed thing to have.  

Every day when I go walking, one of the things that I thank God for is my memory.  I start down the walk with the knowledge that I know where I live and I will know how to get back.  I am thankful that no one has needed to check my ID so they can retrieve me.  Or at least I don’t think it has happened.  It is hard to tell when you get to this stage of life.

I tell myself that the fact that they let me go out the front door by myself means that I have been finding my way home on a regular basis.  But what if that is my imagination?  What if I am sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch and only think I have been walking every day?  Maybe I am just a Boltzmann Brain.  At least I am happy.

But what generated this train of thought?  I asked myself a question this morning, “Have I washed my hair?”  Maybe you don’t have that experience but there are times when I am standing there, my hair is wet and I wonder, “Did I just rinse out the shampoo or am I getting ready to apply the shampoo?”  This is real life drama.  If you are too young to understand then count your blessings, or ask yourself if you just forgot.

I have a routine for taking my blood thinner.  After I eat my gruel, that’s oatmeal for your young folk, I take my drugs.  What happens when my wife comes in to ask me a question or require immediate help at just that moment?  I later ask myself, “Did I take my medication?”  

Or what about the phenomenon of walking to the other end of the house and not remembering why.  What makes that more of a challenge is when, halfway to your goal with your purpose still alive, your wife asks you a question and engages you in conversation.  Poof.  Gone.  

I guess the good news is I can still laugh at myself before others do.

homo unius libri