Educating my daughter about my memory impairment

May 4, 2018 (Chapter 12 Navigating Relationships While Living with a Memory Impairment in my book)

I'm very close to my family, including my daughter. I will continue to let her know when things upset me. She is my oldest child and I think that she is learning a lot about what it is like for me to live with a memory impairment. Sometimes when we talk on the phone, she will ask me something and I will get very quiet. She will ask me if everything is okay and I will tell her that I really can't answer her question, even though I want to. She will ask me why and I will tell her that I don't understand what she is saying. A lot of times, she will just word it differently and that will help me to understand so that I can respond. Sometimes it is difficult because even if someone knows that I have a memory impairment, they might think that it only affects my memory. Having memory problems only a small part of living with a memory impairment. Over the years, my comprehension has greatly declined and that will vary from moment to moment and from one day to the next.