Wednesday 2 November 2011

The Good Thing About Alzheimers

There are a few down sides to this getting “old” business. I guess the main one is that you are getting old! You can’t just eat whatever you want anymore, unless you like a burning sensation where there is no way there should be a burning sensation. You can drink, but only in moderation, unless of course you like the idea of being hung over for three days. Running is how you get to the bathroom in the middle of the night now, not on a field, kicking a ball. Friends disappear sometimes as you age. Mostly, it is because they have drifted away and their lives have become much more complicated, but sometimes they just disappear.

Thankfully, I have only lost a couple of friends permanently. I have alienated many more, but I am sure that they will come around when they realize the error of their ways. I mean really, how could you not love me? The ones disappearing that I am talking about are people that I have never met but have given me great joy.

I miss Asimov, Heinlein, Tolkien, Wilde, Twain, Lewis, Doyle, Barrie, Clarke, Capote…the list just goes on and on. Some have been dead for a goodly amount of time and that is just life. Well that’s death. The ones that really bother me are the ones that I have read all of my life and then all of a sudden, they die. Sure, it is hard to blame a person for passing on, but what am I to read now?

A few have left people to continue on with the stories. Tolkien left his grandson, but he doesn’t have the same ability to capture you with the magic. Anne McCaffrey’s son Todd has begun to take over the reins of “Pern”, and he is doing a very good job of it. Oh, Anne isn’t dead yet, just winding down. Eric Von Lustbader is writing more of Ludlum’s “Bourne” books, which I have enjoyed very much. I just started to read a book by M.Z. Reichert that is continuing Asimov’s “Robot” books. So far, so good.

I guess I should be thankful for all of the great authors out there that I have read and have yet to read. I do miss some of my favourites. My son has promised to write the great Canadian novel, which I am obviously dying to read. Perhaps someone will collect this blog together in book form and when I read it I will sort of remember it, but not quite. I have often taken books out of the library only to find that I have already read them a number of years before. My memory seems to be getting a little raggedy around the edges.

I guess that the good thing about Alzheimer’s is that I will be able to reread all of my favourite books all over again. Yay….????

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