Mind games

I used to swear by my memory. I could (and still can to some degree) remember the most trival stuff. Phone numbers I haven't dialed in more than 20 years, birthdays of friends long, long forgotten, trivial facts about celebrities that I've long traded in for new arrivals. . .it was really great to have that much faith in something.

Recently (last few years) I've started worrying about the loss of this great ability. I find myself searching for the most basic of terms, especially when I'm talking to someone about something. Example: asking my husband to use the microwave, and I can't even think of the word "microwave". I know what it is, but the word escapes me. Instead I describe what a microwave is, you know, that thing that you put the food in and it cooks it real fast and has a timer. . .ridiculous, i know, but sometimes that's the drill. Like an unending game of Password.

Other times I find that I'm able only to figure out a term or a song title or whathaveyou by going through the alphabet until I come across the letter that starts the word. I feel like that at least challenges me a bit to really think hard on it, but it's funny that so many times when I get to the letter that the name starts with, it's like a lightbulb immediately turns on and I can "see" the name in front of me. Or at least start putting it together and eventually get there.

Never hear anyone else talk about these types of memory losses. Wonder if I'm the only one that plays the alphabet game. Can't imagine I'm alone in all of this, but it doesn't help that when these mind hiccups happen, I start to fret a little that my family history of Alzheimers and dementia could be rearing its ugly head already.

I'm only in my mid-30s, so I know it's too soon. But could this be my warning to get my head in shape so I'm able to handle things better when I'm twice my age? If so, I'm taking notice. I just don't know if I should be doing other things to delay the progress.