Actually you can, and many of my aging relatives (i.e., those my age) get upset when there was something profound they were going to say, or they were about to do something, or something important they were supposed to remember, etc, goes AWOL from their head.
Now, I’m not saying it’s not uncomfortable and annoying when that happens. And yeah, I’ve been reading the threads about cognitive decline and whatnot, so I know a lot of you are in on that conversation generally.
I am who I am and my current capacities are what they are. That with which I can cope, and want to, I will cope. I’ll try to cope with some things and they won’t come out right. Happened often enough when I was far younger, still does. The mental lapses are mostly memory fetching. I was pretty spacey all along but yeah I’m noticing the difference. So nothing really gets changed: I cope with what I can cope with that needs coping with and that I decide I want to cope with, I bring whatever capabilities I have to the table, and I don’t cry about the limitations of the aging brain, it’s still fucking fornidable and even if it wasn’t, it is what it is.
How you folks holding up? I’m gonna drive this damn body until it’s 110. Brain included. I’ve got another decade of middle age before I declare myself old.
I’m the same.
I always have been on the goofy, air headed side.
Not that I didn’t think brilliant (to me) thoughts. Just never had real good luck spitting it out my mouth.
I’ve had a couple (few) brain injuries. Nothing all that exciting. But, the last one was so insignificant the Doctor had trouble making it fit his check-off list.
Still I had a brain bleed that needed reducing. And now have a permanent DB thingy in place.
I do find myself losing my train of thought. My crossword puzzle skills may have improved. By my own reckoning.
Too bad my math skills didn’t improve. I coulda been a contender …
My speech never has been great so you can’t tell by that.
I suffer no obvious motor skill loss. My left arm gets numb occasionally. They don’t seem to care at the neurologist office.
Like you I’ll keep going til I don’t. Thinking all the way.
If if I’m thinking loopy thoughts maybe they’ll entertain me.
I’m 70 and indeed I do sometimes forget something or get distracted and think “what was I thinking about?”
Fortunately it’s never anything important!
I do keep my diary scrupulously up to date and have a pad next to my computer to jot down reminders.
I was thinking of going on Dragon’s Den (US = Shark Tank) with this invention:
every stairlift would be fitted with a small recording device. When an elderly person is about to go upstairs for a reason, they dictate that information (e.g. “fetch book”) into the device. Then when they reach the top of the stairs (and have probably forgotten why they went up), they play the recording!
