Not remembering how to measure and hem a pair of pants

April 2, 2020 (Chapter 3 Memory Problems in my book)

A few days ago, I got a phone call from one of my seniors who I usually see each week. I volunteer as a senior companion. She asked me if I could hem a few pairs of pants for her and I said that I would. I drove over to her house and she gave me the bag of pants.

For some reason I didn't think about getting this done until today. She had given me a pair of pants that were already hemmed but she said they were a little short, so I added another inch to the new pants. I took one pair of pants and I put them inside out. I measured with a tape measure from below the waistband and I got a measurement. I wrote this on a piece of paper, then I added an inch and I wrote down the new number. I measured again from the waistband down and I thought that I was doing it wrong.

I do remember her asking me to hem a few pairs of pants before and I think that it was about nine months to a year ago. At that time, I was able to measure and hem them without a problem, all in one evening. It was easy to get it done and no frustration involved.

Since I thought that I might be measuring the pants incorrectly, I decided to look it up online. The website stated “Turn the pants inside out. Measure the seam that runs from the crotch down the inside of the leg. This is the inseam. Measure the inseam on a pair of pants you already wear, then measure the pants you are going to hem to make sure your measurements are correct. “

I thought that I understood what this meant so I tried to measure the inseam but I was still a little confused. I felt so defeated and the tears started streaming down my cheeks. I decided to stop trying to figure it out tonight.

It is not an option to not get this task done because I had already told her that I would do it for her. She does not know about my memory impairment and the fact that sometimes my brain doesn't function well. I've been thinking about how I can get this done and I thought about a close friend who knows a lot about sewing. I decided to call her in the morning.

This morning I called my very good friend. I told her what happened yesterday when I attempted to hem three pairs of pants. I told her that I really had to get this done because my senior doesn't know about my memory impairment. She said that she thought that I was having problems with this because of the stress from the corona virus. I told her that she was probably right, but I hadn't even thought of that. She explained where I needed to measure for the length. I understood one part of what she was saying, but everything else I was not comprehending. Tears started streaming down my face. I dried the tears then I told her what part I didn't understand and she explained it to me again. This time I understood what she was saying. I was writing down some notes so that I could get this done correctly. She said that if I still had problems we could chat by video and it might help clarify it. I thanked her and I told her that I thought that I could get it done.

After I hung up the phone, I went to work measuring, pinning and hemming three pairs of pants. I think that it took all afternoon, but I was so glad when it was done!