Oliver Sacks

     I know of no one who speaks more eloquently on the deficits of the human mind than Oliver Sacks.  After owning the book for many many years I finally got around to reading "The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat," and I am hooked.
      "'He is, as it were,' I wrote in my notes, ' isolated in a single moment of being, with a moat or lacuna of forgetting all around him... He is a man without a past (or future), stuck in a constantly changing , meaningless moment.'" Wow! This is in reference to a man whose memories stopped in 1945. He honestly believed he was living in 1945 even though the year was actually 1975. It was almost cruel of Sack that he showed the man a mirror and demonstrated to the man that he was thirty years older than he realized. The man stared in utter horror of grey hair and a visage that did not belong on a man who knew himself to be little more than thirty. Mr. Sacks lamented that this poor man was lost without recent memories, whose every day was robbed from hum hour by hour until you no longer recognized the people or even the life around him. It does seem a dim existence to have every new moment an exploration in a world that was simply confusing. The poor man did not change his ability to remember, but as Mr. Sack observed there is a beauty that can be achieved in living in the moment. He watched the man in church and his very mindful devotion was moving. He watched the man tend a garden with care over each and every plant.
     I find so many valuable things in this moving story. We are our memories. Our shared and separate past defines us and makes us who we are. It is not enough to be strong, we need to connect. It is those connections that add reality to our world. However, our lives are richer when we remember to stop and pay attention to small things. It is a child's laughter or a rose in bloom can add significant amounts to our lives. We need to pay attention because when we do our lives are so much richer.
      When questioned the man in this study seemed indifferent to life. It wasn't good or bad. He couldn't say that he enjoyed it or if it was difficult. It just was. With Alzheimer's in everyone's mind, this is little comfort, but I love the idea that joys can be found in every moment and maybe the moment is meant to enhance connections. I always wondered if those who couldn't remember would be better off without those who are forgotten. I think starting over may not be possible but building upon that which exists can enhance lives.