Archives for January 2021

I want to discuss memory loss with you. For baby boomers, the fear of memory loss is really the fear of dementia. I’m not referring to the inability to recall names, places, or even what you ate for lunch. Wait, where was I?

Seriously, isn’t every boomer thinking that dementia is right around the corner when they can’t remember something they were told an hour ago? You can argue with me if you like, but I’m going to affirm that half the time my problem is with listening skills, not memory, but that’s a whole other story.

The good news is that exercise not only improves memory – it also decreases memory loss. Studies have shown that walking for as little as 2.5 hours per week can significantly improve memory.

Exercise increases the levels of brain chemicals, and that in turn encourages the growth of nerve cells. The more aerobic the exercise, the more successfully your brain ages. Soooo, time to get moving.

While on the subject of memory, I wanted to know why we can remember things in the most distant past but not how we spent the afternoon yesterday. The science indicates that once a memory is created it has to be stored somewhere. Sensory, short-term or long-term. I’m going to guess that short-term can only hold so much, while long-term is there for the long haul.

And I just remembered why we can’t remember when we were babies. Most of us, that is. I’d be willing to bet there are a few boomers out there who can remember getting a spoonfuls of Gerber Apricot Mixed Fruit, but they would have to be considered extremely rare. The rest of us at that age had brains that were not developed enough to bundle information into the complex neural patterns known as memories.

Maybe you will remember this the next time you and your friends and family are discussing memory loss. Or maybe not.

Jay Harrison is a graphic designer and writer whose work can be seen at DesignConcept. His mystery novel, Head Above Water, is available on Amazon and Kindle. You can also visit his author page here.

I have a pair of yellow knee socks which have to be over 55 years old. I know this because I would never have worn such footwear with my Catholic Central High School green plaid skirt uniform. When in college at Russell Sage in the late 60’s and early 70’s, I was required to wear nylons like all proper young ladies. I wouldn’t wear yellow cotton stockings with my white nursing uniform. Therefore, I had to get them when I was in grammar school.

My yellow footwear recently developed holes in the heels. You ask the question “So what?” I obviously have gotten my money’s worth out of them. Or at least my father did because he must have paid for them. Well, these knee socks are old friends. They are certainly one of my oldest possessions. I use them all the time, unlike my Nancy Drew books which are probably even older and are housed in a box in the basement. I wear them to bed in the wintertime to keep my feet warm. (This doesn’t say much for my husband.)

The genius, Albert Einstein, hated socks and rarely wore them. He would even attend White House parties sockless. Einstein disliked socks because they were constantly getting holes. His socks were obviously not made by the same manufacturer as my yellow hoisery.

I am trying to decide what to do with the holes before they get much bigger. I once learned how to darn socks. But this was when I was in college and I have never darned a pair since. Should I just sew them up? You probably think I should throw them out.

The reason I am writing about such a mundane article of clothing is that these socks seem to be a metaphor for my life. Like them, I am getting old and I am beginning to fall apart. I have a lot of aches and pains, take nine different medications once or twice a day, get B12 shots monthly and, most significantly, had cancer twice. We are both falling apart.

What should I do with these old friends? Maybe, I will just keep them as they are in my sock drawer but then they would be constant reminders of our aging, lack of usefulness and pending demise.

What would you do? I am open to suggestions.

June Hannay Kosier is from Ressselaer, NY