Forgetting how to play cribbage

(Chapter 12 Navigating Relationships While Living with a Memory Impairment in my book)

Yesterday I spent time with my mom. I usually do this once a month but we talk on the phone just about every day. I usually stay overnight so we can spend more time together. This morning I put her cribbage board and deck of cards on the table. We cut the cards and mom cut the lowest card so she dealt the first hand. After she dealt me six cards, I put them in my hand. Then I just looked at her. She asked me what was wrong and I sort of laughed and said, “it seems that I forgotten how to play.” She told me about counting fifteens etc. and thankfully it all came back to me. I only play each month with her and I don't remember this happening before.

I know that usually my only problems playing cribbage is when it comes time to peg – count my points. For example, I count my points and end up with twelve. As I start to move my peg twelve spaces forward, I forget what I just counted. I might say to my mom, “was that fourteen points?” She will say, “Good try but it was only twelve.” I say “Mom, I really don't remember”. She just smiles.

This is just one example of my short-term memory problems. Sometimes I can forget something seconds or minutes later. It can be so frustrating to hang onto those memories. Even when I try to write out my food shopping list or write anything down, sometimes it is a struggle to write the words down before they are gone. Most of the time, if I forget, the words are lost forever!