Um, I don't remember

I'm not sure what it is lately, but I'm losing it it. I'm finding for the first time that I simply do not have the recall that I used to.

I'm hoping it's this virus I have, or something about this change of seasons, or some weird cosmic shift, and therefore temporary, but, well, it most likely isn't.

I have always had (or at least as far back as I can remember, ha ha) a really excellent memory. I trusted it always. We have 400-plus authors that write for us here at work, and I used to be able to remember who wrote what, for which subspecialty, whom the editor was, and sometimes even at what institution they worked. I could spout this stuff off at staff meetings, with almost complete accuracy. I remembered conversations in vivid detail, never failed to remember crazy hair days at the kids' school or permission slips that needed signing. But no more. I'm finding that the non-essentials are slipping from my mind like, well, like a sieve.

Fortunately, the essentials are still intact, but it's still bothersome. My sharp memory saved me time. I did not have to refer to past notes, emails, children's backpacks, it was all just there, inside my cranium, for the taking. I could not understand how others struggled to remember minute details. What the hell is wrong with you people I thought to myself. Pay attention. Put some effort into it, for the love of the Cosmic Waitress!

But now I understand it. I somehow no longer have room for all the details; they are no longer crisp, but instead a bit jumbled, soft, fuzzy.

Please don't be alarmed, I do not think I am sliding headlong into early dementia, but I am changing. And not in the way I'd like to. Does it really matter that I have to rely more on my phone's calendar or refer to old emails when in doubt? Not really, I guess, but it still pisses me off on some level. I don't mind the years passing, but I am irritated by the reading glasses and dimming wit. And I am not a game player, so please don't suggest sudoku or a Rubik's cube.

I've decided that I will go about brain fitness via the social route, as numerous studies have shown that maintaining meaningful relationships and social interaction are key to maintain cognitive sharpness.  Add this to the fact that resveratrol and flavonoids may protect neurons from damage, and I think I may just have a plan....

Who wants to meet me for a glass of red and some cognitively stimulating conversation?