These past two mornings, we have awoken to the beautiful sight of the
full moon setting against the pinks and purples of the morning sky, with
a double dose of this all reflected in the still waters of Queens Lake.
We have stood in quiet wonder. Part of Bob's new, more emotional way of
being in the world has included a deeper awareness of and appreciation
of beauty. It has also meant a deeper response to the cards, postcards,
and email messages he has recieved, with tears coming much more easily
than ever have before.
Bob continues to work on improving his memory. In one of the many strange mysteries that has characterized this whole process, yesterday as we were exercising on treadmill and elliptical, we turned on the TED Talks (technology, entertainment, and design). We chose a short selection, and then clicked "Play All". Well, the second selection to play was a full length piece on improving your memory! The point that was made was that although our society has so many external memory supports that having a good memory is no longer prized as it once was, but that with effort and attention, anyone can improve their memory.
It has been fascinating to watch Bob regain different types of memory as time goes along. The first memory to return has been for people, names, and relationships, which continues to be his strongest area of memory. Sometimes it is TOO strong, with Bob having a sense of familiarity or deja vu for strangers who wait on us or who we encounter at random. The next type of memory to return was facts, as he was able to recall important dates, addresses, and phone numbers from throughout his life. The third kind has been procedural knowledge, and Bob has been able to once again don his superman cape and fix things around the house that I don't begin to know how to do (although occasionally he knows just enough to be dangerous!).
The last kind of memory, the memory that is still not back yet, is episodic memory or memory for events. Bob looks at a map of places we have traveled, he is perplexed and sad not to have any memory of any of those trips. But last night we had an exchange that made me hopeful that they are still in there, just waiting for us to rebuild the pathways to retrieve them.
Bob mentioned that he had noticed on the map that we had visited Viet Nam. He guessed that we had visited our friends Mason and Bing while we were there. I confirmed that that was correct, and tested him further by asking the names of their childen, which he remembered. Then he asked where we'd been just before Viet Nam, and I told him we'd flown from Manila. He asked what we'd been doing there, anf I replied that we'd been speaking at the EARCOS conference. Without hesitation, he came out with "the East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools." Wow! I have to think twice before I can say that. It is still factual knowledge rather than a memory of the event itself, but I take it as a hopeful sign.
Thank you for your continued care and support.
Megan
Bob continues to work on improving his memory. In one of the many strange mysteries that has characterized this whole process, yesterday as we were exercising on treadmill and elliptical, we turned on the TED Talks (technology, entertainment, and design). We chose a short selection, and then clicked "Play All". Well, the second selection to play was a full length piece on improving your memory! The point that was made was that although our society has so many external memory supports that having a good memory is no longer prized as it once was, but that with effort and attention, anyone can improve their memory.
It has been fascinating to watch Bob regain different types of memory as time goes along. The first memory to return has been for people, names, and relationships, which continues to be his strongest area of memory. Sometimes it is TOO strong, with Bob having a sense of familiarity or deja vu for strangers who wait on us or who we encounter at random. The next type of memory to return was facts, as he was able to recall important dates, addresses, and phone numbers from throughout his life. The third kind has been procedural knowledge, and Bob has been able to once again don his superman cape and fix things around the house that I don't begin to know how to do (although occasionally he knows just enough to be dangerous!).
The last kind of memory, the memory that is still not back yet, is episodic memory or memory for events. Bob looks at a map of places we have traveled, he is perplexed and sad not to have any memory of any of those trips. But last night we had an exchange that made me hopeful that they are still in there, just waiting for us to rebuild the pathways to retrieve them.
Bob mentioned that he had noticed on the map that we had visited Viet Nam. He guessed that we had visited our friends Mason and Bing while we were there. I confirmed that that was correct, and tested him further by asking the names of their childen, which he remembered. Then he asked where we'd been just before Viet Nam, and I told him we'd flown from Manila. He asked what we'd been doing there, anf I replied that we'd been speaking at the EARCOS conference. Without hesitation, he came out with "the East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools." Wow! I have to think twice before I can say that. It is still factual knowledge rather than a memory of the event itself, but I take it as a hopeful sign.
Thank you for your continued care and support.
Megan
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