I have been worried about dementia since my sixties.
At 75 I found I was losing keys, couldn’t remember the names of books, authors and people, constantly mislaid things and couldn’t remember places or events.
If I was this bad at 75 – what would I be like if I lived to 100?
Much of the information on-line was disturbing. Until I came across the Memory Foundation | Brainfit®.
To my great relief, I discovered tips and techniques for dealing with memory loss.
FOCUS became my mantra:
Every time I put my keys down I told myself to focus, which meant looking hard and long at where I’d put them.
With each book I read, I focused on the title, and the author, and thought about the book I’d finished reading
On meeting people. I focused on the name and face.
I found my memory was slowly beginning to function again.
And then ….
I decided to enrol in a MOOCS Art History course– something I’d wanted to do for some time. 
There was so much to learn, so many new skills to acquire, so many new ways of looking at paintings, art and history. So many assignments. Several times I felt ready to give up!
To my amazement, I persevered and found the final test easier than I’d imagined.
And gained considerable confidence in the process.
Now I was ready to learn cryptic crosswords.
All I needed was to focus on the conventions – and suddenly they weren’t so hard after all. (I sometimes need help though.)
My next step was to study a little Gaelic to prepare for a trip to Ireland.
And now I am learning French. Which is sometimes infuriating, but mostly fun.
I now believe that anything is possible – if we put our minds to it.
All thanks to you, Gillian, Brainfit® and the Memory Foundation
Barbara Macdonald, Otaki Forks.
Thank you, Barbara, for this inspiring story! We all need encouragement and this one strategy has made a huge difference to Barbara’s life.
Do YOU have a story to share? Memory Foundation would love to publish it so that others are inspired to keep actively using strategies to remember. Leave a comment here or Contact Us
Firstly Thankyou Gillian and your team. Focus is one keyword, have used a good deal of my Life. Mostly what could be considered as absent healing, but forgetting myself, foot pain, my walks curbed much, last technique used for me, joyfully without pain. Names too, faces never forget, as have impaired hearing from childhood, good hearing aides now, found my seeing and touch acute , so developed strongly body language, now will concentrate on the hearing of names, and of course my own hearing. Am also concentrating manifesting a 3 d Studio for our local Art Centre, for all especially children, the old studio flooded , always ghastly, hear people say, The Cost, just said it will come, guess what met an architect knew told him, he said OK will go and have a look over ! It begins. So Gillian, we can manifest the World, changing to Peace and Love, cannot thank you enough the time you spared to visit our U3A.
I love Barbara’s story Gillian. Focus is my key word, most of the time !! learned from you quite a few years ago. I panic now when I lose things, as I’m very old now and try to keep up with my younger friends !! Doesn’t do to give in.
Thank you for your continuing help, I look back with such pleasure to your first lecture at the local Hospice quite a few years ago and again at my Retirement Village later on.
Warmest wishes. Marie D.
Thank you for your post. I just turned 67 and this will help me as I Tend to forget people’s names and faces a lot.
Much appreciated
It was so lovely reading all the stories/comments.
Barbara’s strategies are really impressive and fill me with more encouragement to keep proceeding onwards.
Two days ago I was at a concert when I spied an acquaintance I had not seen for simply years. As I walked up to reconnect with this much older woman, memories of yesteryears ,when I was a teenager, came flooding back.
I could remember the precise very fine pleated white skirt she wore to tennis, the white socks and white sandshoes. Soft brown hair and lipstick and the perfume of the talcum powder she dusted herself with. Blue eyes and engaging manner. But there I was to be found standing by her and I couldn’t remember her name!
“I haven’t seen you for a long time” she said. We had a lovely chat without using first names. Then my friend from a long time ago dropped a bombshell.
“Which one are you? Mary or Anne”? This woman is in her 90’s . I am nearly about to leave my 60’s! I was so impressed with that. I walked back to my seat and focussed on her name and it came back to me bit by bit. The surname first then the first name.
So we are all not too different are we.
Like Barbara, I would like to make focussed choices to sustain my memory/brain health. And with Brainfit for Life as my “brainfix” I am trying.
What an inspirational story, Mary! Thank you so much for sharing this with us. It perfectly describes how recall happens as the brain gets a bit older – with perseverance, brain connections DO happen. Never give up!