How to recover a memory. Reposted from Oct 2. 2010

As I learn more about how memory works, I realize more why we are (unfortunately) so far away from finding a cure. The brain is an intricate maze of neurons and tissues that when intoxicated by Alzheimers, actually shrinks in size. My mom is trying to direct her thoughts and her past through this maze, with no map, and I'm not even sure she is the driver anymore. She recently told a friend of the family that she indeed had been to Europe, but not with me, with her students. She did take a group of students to Europe in 2005. She must have thought back on this trip and and the time could not recall that she was with me just a few days before, in Berlin. She was healthier back then and she remembered being with her students and traveling to Italy, France, and London with inspired art students.

This was my moms first time in Europe. It is a memory that will never die, so I allow her to dwell upon it, to treasure it, and its not hurting me if she tells friends and family that she was in Europe recently with her students, and not me. I asked her just this morning if she remembers being with me in Berlin, and walking around and going to the beautiful museums and seeing the Turquoise waters of the Mediterranean sea in turkey. She remembers. Today she remembered. I showed her a slide show and she sincerely remembers. She may not be able to recall everything we did, but she can use these pictures to help her navigate through the dark tunnels on her brain, and hopefully she will find her way out.