Planning for Memory Loss: The End-of-Life Plan We’re Leaving Out
It could happen to you
I think that one day my memory will be lost — and pieces of who I am will be lost with it. I’ve witnessed that slow slide into oblivion and wondered what I was meant to do. Would trying to talk cause frustration, or was I meant to be an anonymous comfort? How would the ones I love want to be cared for as the pieces of who they once were drifted away like clouds in the sky? How would they like to be loved?
We don’t have these kinds of end-of-life conversations, so we don’t know. We do our best and wonder if it’s ever good enough.
Confronted with grandparents who lost their memories and a neuro-endocrine disorder that often clouds my own mind, I began to think about how I want to be loved through the loss of my own memories. I have no idea if I’ll one day find myself lost in the fog of dementia, but I do know that I need a plan long before it begins, should it begin.
At the age of 41, it may seem unlikely that I’ll have to deal with memory loss anytime soon. Yet, expecting the unexpected is the reason we have attorneys prepare a will and let our loved ones know how we want emergencies handled in the event we cannot decide for ourselves. These conversations may seem morbid, but they’re truly a kindness to the people we love —…
