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Trying this Stream-of-Consciousness Prompt
Begin to write without editing, using the prompt, "May your..."
https://lindaghill.com/2026/05/22/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-23-2026/
Like Debbie D., from whom I borrowed this prompt (which originated with Linda G. Hill), I find it hard not to edit as I go along. Maybe doing this will encourage the freewheelin' side of the brain. (Yes, I'm tempted to Google whether that is the right or the left side, but that's a no-no. Ha!)
What I came up with is
May your long-term memory store lots of good stuff, so if you get dementia sometime in the future, all the bad stuff will disappear and be replaced by the good stuff.
Which makes me think about the various people I've known with Alzheimer's and dementia.
Especially my mother-in-law, Deborah, who got Alzheimer's after a bout of flu with a high fever, during which she spoke a lot of nonsense. That went away after a day, but eventually bad signs started to appear: poor judgment, moodiness, forgetfulness about grooming, inability to do buttons and to cut meat.
Eventually, we thought it best to have her doctor tell her it was time to stop driving. She didn't take it well. She had been a doctor herself and was brilliant and very independent. She also had a phenomenal memory. She did all the right things they tell you to do: read a lot, do crossword puzzles, exercise (she walked to work in the good weather). But none of that prevented her from getting the unlucky number.
But getting back to the prompt. Deborah had always been a super-serious person. She just didn't get jokes. Which was quite difficult for M and me, who loved joking. Also Deborah's great memory meant she could indulge her grudge-keeping habit.
Well, once she got Alzheimer's two good things happened:
She got a sense of humour.
And she forgot who she was supposed to be mad at.
Alzheimer's was a tragedy in many ways for her and for those who knew her. But it actually improved her personality!
