Remember When...

Remember when you would drive your daughter to high school and songs from her favorite bands would play on the radio and you thought you were cool because you knew the names of the bands and could talk to her about them?

That was less than eighteen months ago. Now, a song comes on that we used to rock out to and I can only turn it up and ask either, "who's this band, again?" or "we used to like this song, right?"

Remember when you could read a news article or a book, then turn the page to continue what you were reading because you remembered what you have read?

That was me this time last year. Now, scrolling down on a Washington Post article causes a little confusion about what I was reading in the first place. I sometimes have to scroll back up to remind myself what I could have possibly found interesting enough to have chosen to read the article in the first place.

Remember when you could watch a television show with the volume at 17 and without the captions on?

I can't remember when the volume kept creeping up because it's on a steady 47 or higher now, but a little over a year ago I had to have the captions turned on so I could catch up with what was being said. Now, even with the loud blaring of sound and the captions, my brain's processing only lets me catch about 70% of what I watch. Problems solved with streaming because I can watch the show 2 or 3 time to catch what I miss. Too bad I can't use this technique when I have to interact in real life situations. Missing 30% of what people try to tell me is extremely frustrating.

Remember when you had a favorite video game app that you would play all the time?

Othello (Reverse) was my phone app game and I played it all the time (multiple times a day, everyday, for over a year.) Then I forgot about it  until a day ago, but all I could remember was there was a game I used to play that I really liked. The thing is, I don't know if I hadn't played for a day, a week, or a month before I'd forgot about it.

Remember when you knew what day of the week it is?

Last year, remembering the day of the week became associated with what television show you liked (Westworld or Game of Thrones: Sunday night on HBO) or when the grocery store ads come in the morning paper (Wednesday). Now, even that is hard to keep straight.

Remember when you  could make lists (Costco, dry cleaning, pet store for chicken feed) in your mind of things you needed to accomplish while running errands?

Now, only errands must be done individually, and lists must be made.

Remember when you could balance your checkbook in your head, knowing exactly how much the balance was, when automatic drafts would be pulled, etc?

I could do that with three separate checking accounts. Within the last few months, insufficient fund emails have become the norm.

Remember when you could remember?