Our Treasure and the Thief

Our Most Precious Treasure

Who we are today depends on who we were yesterday, and who we were yesterday depends on who we were last year.  This simple fact underlies our very existence - our very identity.

Our definitition of ourselves, of who we are, comes down to this one human element - memory.

Because of this, our memory is our most precious treasure.

The Greatest Thief

Where there is treasure, you're sure to find a thief and where that treasure is the most precious, you will find the greatest of thieves.

For in the guise of dementia, we are robbed of our most valuable possession - our memories - and with them, our very identity.

Staying Me, Staying You

The less we remember about ourselves, the more lost we become.  As our memory of 'who we were' is stolen from us, so too is our understanding of 'who we are'.

'Staying me' is, then, the critical goal in the life of someone suffering from dementia.

The Good News

There is good news here.  While our short and medium term memories are lost to dementia, often the longer term memories can remain. 

The challenge is to find ways to reach and recover those dormant memories - to re-stimulate them and to re-inforce them.

How many times has something reminded you of a person or event from your childhood that you thought had long been purged from your memory?  It only took the right stimulus.  It only took the right connection to bring those memories flooding back.

Even someone with the worst progression of dementia may still have memories intact which we can unlock - if we can find the right key.  And that key might be conversation; it might be music; it might be sound, smell, taste; it might be any combination of things.

It can be a huge challenge, at times.  But the results are always worth it.  That simple smile of recognition, the sudden engagement in life, even just the tapping of a hand in time to some music - these are treasures beyond price.