What's My Name?

Memory loss is a scary thing.  Can you imagine not knowing the faces of your own loved ones?  Not being able to recall your most precious memories?  It's incomprehensible.  But it's one of the many reasons to appreciate every second.


Alzheimer's disease, dissociative identity disorder, and post-traumatic disorder are few of the many psychology disorders involving memory loss.  The common factor with these disorders is that your memory is usually slowly taken away from you.  But what if by impact all your memories dissappeared?

While this is a more extreme example, it does make you appreciate your loved ones a little more.  After seeing the trailer for this movie I became interested in finding real life experiences of this type of situation:


Meet Jeff.  A 19 year old who discusses his life after being pushed down the stairs by his brother as a child.  He can't remember any of his childhood memories and soon he discovers that he has Long Term Memory Loss.  Jeff has trouble recalling things from his past, however, his short term memory was not as injured from the accident so he can remember things like what he ate for breakfast.  Although that may not seem important to us, memories seem more crucial once you start forgetting.

Kathy is the wife of a victim of a form of extreme memory loss, encephalitis, which is explained further in her story.  She discusses the struggle of losing her husband before her eyes and not being able to do anything but simply be there for him.  But toward the end is an excerpt from her husband, Simon.  He discusses how great his family has been and refers to his memory loss as "fits."  He says that after these fits he has no recollection of what has happened.  It is an inspirational story of love and loss, memory loss to be specific.


Memory loss isn't just loss of memory.  It's loss of experience, feelings, and thoughts which makes us who we are.  Hearing about experiences like in Jeff's blog, Kathy's story, and "The Vow" makes me feel appreciative of every experience I've had and of the loved ones in which I've shared them with.