He forgets where he put the car keys; he searches for the right word; he walks into a room and can’t remember why he’s there. He tries to make a joke of it—“Do you remember why I came in here?”—but I can tell it bothers him.
“I tell myself he doesn’t change; he just gets a little absentminded, a little distracted as he ages—it happens to everyone. And I mostly believe it. He forgets where he put the car keys; he searches for the right word; he walks into a room and can’t remember why he’s there. He tries to make a joke of it—“ Do you remember why I came in here?”—but I can tell it bothers him. Even though he goes to bed early, he’ll sometimes nod off midsentence. One day he can’t recall the name of our next-door neighbor and friend, the one he’s always liked so much. He calls her Emily, but her name is Elizabeth.”
