I Have Trouble Remembering ONE Person’s Name

My dad told me this story about his grandmother, who lived to be over 100. I got to meet her, and so did several other great-grandchildren. She raised eleven kids — her husband died much younger and she never remarried — who all had kids when they grew up. Since none of her siblings had kids, Dad and his dozens of cousins joked she was making up for them.

Dad would do her grocery shopping once a week. One week, when he came to get her shopping list, she looked very concerned about something.

Dad: “Grandma, what’s wrong? You look so worried.”

Grandma: “I think I’m losing my mind.”

Dad: “You’ve always seemed sharp when we talk. I haven’t noticed anything wrong. What makes you think that?”

Grandma: “This morning, I was sitting here trying to name all my grandchildren, and I can’t do it.”

Dad: “Grandma, you have more than fifty grandkids. No one knows all their names! Your memory is fine.”

That reassured her! She lived about another fifteen years after this conversation, and her memory stayed intact the whole time. She even hosted big family dinners every Sunday well into her nineties.

This story is part of our Feel Good roundup for November 2020!

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Read the Feel Good roundup for November 2020!