I’ve become used to repeating things several times. Jim will come to ask be about something, turn away after I answer and then turn back and say, “I meant to ask you…” and then ask me the same question again.

This has become our normal.

When getting ready to post Christmas cards for his family, Jim asked me over twenty times within 36 hours, whether we had Christmas cards. Often 2-3 times in a row. Each time I answered that we had plenty left over from previous years. Due to the pandemic, I figure no one will complain about getting the same Christmas card two years in a row. (and if they do, tough banana-cookies, I have bigger things to worry about)

As we prepared the cards, it was apparent Jim had difficulties remembering the names of his grandchildren, even though he had the list of names in front of him. He knows who they are but can’t always think of the correct name when referring to them. This isn’t surprising because none of them live close by and with Covid, even if they did, they couldn’t visit anyway.

This is the stage of memory loss I was expecting.

Over the past few days however, Jim has begun to question me about things. In some cases, items that have been in the house longer than I have.

For example, he asked me when I put up the wallpaper border in our bathroom. I didn’t. His late wife hung the border – she died in 2002. Then, today he asked me about the stereo speakers on the end table two feet away from where he sits every night to watch TV. Not only did he not recognize their placement but he didn’t know what they were.

This is a new layer to his memory loss.

It goes deeper than his usual short term memory impairment. Now he’s losing his ability to recognize things that should be familiar because 1) they are common household items 2) he’s had them forever. Even if he didn’t remember possessing them, he should at least know what they are.

I admit I’m a little freaked out. I wasn’t expecting this stage to happen yet. I think I was prepared for his long term memories to be the next victim.  He’s been consistently skewing the timeline of some of his childhood memories so it was a reasonable assumption.

I guess, silly me for thinking he would decline in only one way at a time.

Failure to recognize common household items adds a new level of risk for Jim. Time to rethink the items in our common areas to ensure nothing can accidentally harm him if he picks them up to investigate.