Last week, I went into a local bank and opened a new savings account. Not for the purpose of saving money…but instead because the bank was offering a deal. If I opened a new savings account and kept a certain amount of money in the account for at least 45 days, the bank would give me $250.00. Being the shopaholic that I am, I knew I could use that $250.00! After all, this baby could use a new pair of shoes! I can never have too many shoes!
In the process of opening the account, the bank teller asked me one simple question. That one question threw me for a loop! “What is your address and zip code” she asked? I literally froze. I could not remember my own address or zip code! The address of the place I lay my head every night, the place I shower, eat, and do a million other things had completely vanished from my brain.
I’m sure the bank clerk was thinking “you’re not really Carol Roberts….identity theft, identity theft” and was about to call her supervisor and tell him to call the FBI. Either that or she was thinking “this lady had one too many drinks at lunch today.” Insert eyeball here. After about 20 seconds I managed to gather myself and simply said “good lord, I can’t remember s#@&!” I quickly rattled off an address and zip code. (I hope it was mine 😃.) What I really wanted to say was “Look young missy, someday you too will be standing at a counter and unable to remember just like me. And yes just like your mind, your youth and that size 2 body you have, will be a faded recollection by the time you’re my age.” But I’m not bitter.
While I make light of my recent forgetfulness, in all sincerity it causes me some concern. My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the young age of 62. She died from the disease at the age of 80. During the last several years of her life my mother did not even know my name or recognize my face or that of my brother and sister. Thankfully, she seemed to remember my father — the one thing that gave me some sort of peace. She forgot how to talk, to walk, to eat, and even sit or hold her head up. She suffered, and trust me, I mean suffered for 18 years with a disease that is perhaps as puzzling as it is cruel.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association website, 5.8 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. By 2050, the year the young bank clerk will be a little older than I am now, that number is expected to grow to 14 million. Between 2000 and 2017 deaths from Alzheimer’s disease increased by 145% and today kills more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.
These are frightening statistics! Don’t get me wrong, by no means am I saying that because I couldn’t remember my address or zip code I’m in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. We all forget something so common and familiar as our address, zip code or phone number at times. I only know that Alzheimer’s disease sucks and I’m scared I will suffer from it just like my mother did.