You know, memories are so important. So important. I share many of my memories here, and I enjoy each one. They are like precious jewels that I can turn over and over in my mind, watching the light shine through. I often think that memory is what ties us here. I know before Grandmother got so … the way she is… that she would tell us stories of he past. She could keep me enthralled for hours, just listening. I even had her write down some of her special memories for me in a couple of journals, so I would have them forever. I wonder if she still does that even now. I hope so, because it saddens me to think that she doesn’t have at least that. I can’t imagine a life a grey as that would be.

You know from reading my posts about the Memory Walk that I think finding a cure for Alzheimer’s and related diseases is important. But until we find a cure, we also need to do our treat these patients with quality care. And it’s also important to spread the word about early screening, which is what I am doing in this post. In November, there will be free memory screenings all over the U.S. I encourage you to visit the site I linked, find a local screening and go get one. It only takes a few minutes, and the effect it can have on your future is immeasurable.

Think you don’t need one? That you are so young it couldn’t happen to you?

# Am I becoming more forgetful?
# Do I have trouble concentrating?
# Do I have difficulty performing familiar tasks?
# Do I have trouble recalling words or names in conversation?
# Do I sometimes forget where I am?
# Have family or friends told me that I am repeating questions or saying the same thing over and over again?
# Am I misplacing things more often?
# Have I become lost when walking or driving in a familiar neighborhood?
# Have my family or friends noticed changes in my mood, behavior, personality, or desire to do things?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then a memory screening might benefit you. I’m forty and have a couple of yeses. And what if you could say no to each of them? You can get a screening anyway so you will have a baseline score for comparison.

I’m trying to figure out what it is that scares me so badly about this disease, even more than the thought of being without the ones I love. I think it’s a couple of things that work together. I happen to be one of those weirdos who enjoys their own company, and so the thought that once I finally have a chance to be by myself I won’t be the me I know anymore is pretty significant. And then I know that as long as I can remember loved ones, they are still part of me, still significant in my life. I can not, will not, do not wish to even contemplate a life of grey nothing.