When Memory Starts to “Lose Its Way”

With age comes decline — that’s no surprise. Memory fades, we forget what we just said, or walk into a room and wonder why we’re there. It happens.

But then there are rare exceptions.
A former boss of Mr. Old Man retired over 30 years ago. He is now well into his 90s, yet still sharp. Occasionally he attends gatherings and speaks clearly, logically, effortlessly. Listening to him, one can’t help but think: this is a well-built system — stable, durable, with very few bugs.

People like that are not just admirable. They are rare.

As for Mr. Old Man, only a few years into retirement, there are already signs of… “occasional memory glitches.”
Strangely enough, he still writes every day on Facebook — sometimes about trade finance, sometimes about random thoughts.

But only those experiencing it understand this: memory doesn’t disappear all at once. It slowly… drifts off course, little by little, without warning.

There was a time when speaking came easily — in Vietnamese or in English, even on complex topics.
Now… writing feels safer.

Writing allows pauses. Time to think. Time to choose the right words.
Speaking, on the other hand, does not wait. Pause for a few seconds, and something already feels off.

So Mr. Old Man writes — regularly, consistently — as if trying to hold on to a way of thinking, before it starts to slip.

There was even a phase of trying YouTube, just to practice speaking.
But the more he tried, the more he felt his performance declining.
Especially in English — if he were to rate himself now, perhaps 3 out of 10… and most of those points would go to “persistence,” not proficiency.

Well… age is real.

Looking back, the nickname “Mr. Old Man,” chosen more than 20 years ago, has turned out to be accurate — in both the literal and figurative sense.

Is it Alzheimer’s?
Perhaps time will tell.

For now, asking too many questions might lead to forgetting what the question was in the first place.

Anyway, posting this will probably bring some smiles.
Some will say, “That’s exactly me.”
Others will laugh, “Not my turn yet.”
And surely, a few will confidently insist: “My memory is still perfectly fine!”

Perhaps the real question is not how much we remember, but how we continue to think, reflect, and share — even as memory slowly changes.

_____

Mr. Old Man