Memories!

"His father has Alzheimer's, and doesn't recognize his own son," she said.

Getting old is not for the faint-hearted!

Ever since I read Sherwin Nuland's How We Die, I have always worried about falling victim to Alzheimer's.  I keep reassuring myself that there has not been any case of dementia in the family, including the extended family.  But then I don't want to be the first either.

When I drafted a will more than two decades ago, my attorney laughed off this worry of mine.  Because, he said, I won't know anything as an Alzheimer's patient--the problem will be somebody else's.  But then, I don't want to become somebody else's burden.

"It is a bleak picture."

There is no known cure. Some medications can reduce memory loss and aid concentration, but these merely alleviate the symptoms or boost the performance of those neurons in the brain that remain unaffected. They do nothing to stop or slow down the killing-off of brain cells by this neurodegenerative condition.

Yes, there is a great deal of research being done to treat, if not cure, Alzheimer's.  But, ...

Especially for someone like me who believes that my memories are all that I will take with me, the loss of memories will be terrible. But, then is any ending any more pleasant than another, really!

Perhaps even my blogging is an extension of creating memories.  A modern day version of how through the ages we humans have told each other stories enough and more times. Most of the old stories that we talk about are heartwarming. But then there are those that make us dwell on the unpleasant tastes that life leaves on our tongues.

I remember coming across a wonderful line by Haruki Murakami:

Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.

May you create your memories that will warm you from the inside, about which you can then talk and blog about--and keep Alzheimer's away, forever.