Sometimes you just need to embrace the quirks of memory in your relationship.
I’ve noticed lately it’s not just the 50-plus population who is grasping for a word, a name, or a location to be able to finish a sentence. I see it happening to people in their 30’s and 40’s.
I have a theory. I think we are all so bombarded with stimuli, such as emails, social media posts, and texts that our brains are grappling to sort out the information. We may be on a train of thought and then, zap, our brain’s direction gets derailed onto some other topic.
How does this affect a relationship? It can cause tension and stress as one or the other of the couple gets frustrated. On the one hand, it might be helpful to let our mate figure out the word, title of a book or song, but on the other hand a couple can work together to try to fill in the gap. Below is a cute poem I was given years ago that I think still applies. Let me know if you can relate to it!
We’re on our way to the party, our speed decreased
Because we can’t remember our hostess’s name.
I say it has three syllables at least.
He says it’s like a boy’s, but not the same.
I say it rhymes with “skirt” and starts with “R.”
He says it ends with “a” and not with “t.”
And just before we’ve finally parked the car,
We reach “Roberta” simultaneously.
In our long years together we have shared
One family and one life of joy and pain,
Not knowing that we’ve slowly been prepared
To fifty/fifty-also share one brain.
If you are looking for ways to start the conversations in your relationship but are running into roadblocks, get in touch, and we can talk about some strategies.