I Forgot

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It wasn't supposed to happen this way

But it did

Everything started off normally

I was supposed to come downstairs

Give her a big hug and kiss

Except

I forgot

No no, it's not the way you think

I forgot to wish my mom

Happy Mother's Day

Not because

I didn't care

Or was too lazy

But because

I forgot

Let me explain to you what that means

To people like me

People with chronic conditions

Regular people forget

Because they don't care

Or have too much on their minds

We forget because

We can't remember

That might sound like a giant

Confusing haiku

But the truth is

When we suffer from

Short term memory loss

What happened 5 minutes before

Disappears into a fog

In our brains

It simply ceases to exist

Until reminded

And even then it's not enough

While too much information

Is overwhelming

One small thought

Ever important

Vanishes without a trace

Sometimes not to reemerge for years

Not kidding

Today that happened to me

I've forgotten things before

But not something so big

I'm the one on top of birthdays

Holidays

Occasions

For everyone

And though my mom did get her

Gift two days before hand

Just because I was afraid I would forget

This astonishing fact of forgetfulness

Slapped me in the face

And punched me in the gut

At the same time

Cold hard facts that

Though in the last 9 months

Physically I've surpassed a lot

And have done splendidly

Neurologically

I'm not there yet

I will be honest

I fell to the floor and wept with horror

How could I, the one with the ingenuity

How could I forget?

Yet here was another reminder

Of how long it takes to recover

Do not for a moment think

It's an easy peasy thing

If you've been bedridden

Are ill with something that doesn't have a cure

It's going to take well over a year

To feel like all the parts are working properly

Today I forgot

To wish my mom

Happy Mother's Day

Not because I was careless

But because the brain fog

Swallowed my thoughts

I began to question

My own future

As I cried in my mom's arms

How can I do my Ph.D

Become a college professor

If memories fail me so

And then she told me

What my heart already knew

Same as I've been doing it

By inching forward

One step at a time

That is what I intend to do

Until one day I will

Remember to not forget ever again

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