Paint, Boomerang, Stove...Is That Right?

As you know, last week the girls and I went to Crestview to visit my family. While there, my sister, Anna, asked me if I had noticed that my mom seemed a little more "forgetful" than usual.

I had noticed it, but kind of overlooked it because I can be in mid sentence and forget where I'm going with it too. Anna lives in the same town so she has the opportunity to see it more, and was really worried. She told me that she feared that my mom may be getting Alzheimer's.

So we talked to my mom about it and asked her to talk to her doctor. She dismissed us and told us that she was fine.

Well, the next day, Anna, who also works at a nursing home, gave my mom this little test. She told my mom three unrelated words and told her not to focus on them, but to carry on with our conversation.

So,carry on we did for ten minutes. Then Anna, out of the blue, asked my mom, "What were the three words?" My mom had a hard time coming up with the three words.

Not to turn this around and make it as my friend Lisanka says, "All About Me", but I had a hard time remembering too. I still can't remember them, but Ariel can.

Okay, so I am going to make this blog about ME. Unlike my mom, I was SO WORRIED that I could not remember the words.

I'm too young for this. 34 is too young to be losing your memory . But then I heard about early-onset Alzheimer's.

I was concerned. So, for the 2 hours drive home the girls tested me over and over. They took turns quizzing me.

My first test: "Paint, Boomerang, Stove". I think that's it.

Wait, let me check with Ariel and Cecily.

I'm back. Yup. That's right.

Sad thing, I think the only reason why I remembered the words was because I was so fearful of failing that I focused on the words and said them over, and, over in my head. I was trying to pretend I was focused on what the girls were telling me, which was a challenge in itself because for ten minutes they were trying to keep me focused on other things.

But all I could think of was, "Paint, Boomerang, Stove. Paint, Boomerang, Stove. Paint, Boomerang, Stove."

When the 10 minutes were up, they were so happy when I got it. I guess they did not want to think their mom was loosing her mind, literally.

I hate the thought of not remembering my husband or sweet children, or even how to do simple everyday task. It makes me sad, but I had to be honest and have them test me again. This time I did not cheat, and for the life of me, I could not remember any of the words. Although I do remember telling the girls that it was an easy list. I guess it wasn't that easy, afterall.

I think it had something with the Easter Bunny. But I'm not sure, and I don't think the girls want me to keep bugging them with, "Hey, what were those three words again?"

Well, the story does not end there (sorry for those of you who wished it did).

Saturday night the girls tested Mike. What were his 3 words?

"Barn, drawer, salutation". I only remembered because of this:

Yesterday, when church ended, Mike came up to me while I was talking to someone and whispered real fast, "Barn drawer salutation".

I stopped and looked at him strangely and said, "What?"

He repeated, "Barn, Drawer, Salutation".

I was still confused. My one and only thought was this:

"Oh my! My zipper must be down and he was trying to warn me." How thoughtful. So seriously, I looked down, only to realize that I was wearing a skirt.

Nope not my zipper.

Finally, I said to him, "What in the world are you talking about?"

He smiled and said, "At least my memory is good. I know my three words."

Well, hooray for him. LOL. I'm so glad that one of us has the capacity to hold on to senseless words.

I'm sure my mind is okay (at least I hope and pray it is) , but you know the saying, "Use it or loose it." I think I better start using mine more.

Any thoughts? Please write them down because I probably won't remember it if you tell me.