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Dear Leah,
I am aware of OBS and I know for a fact that in many cases we surpress our memory because of painful hurts in our past.
I feel that we have to look at the future and take one day at a time.
Truth being that GOD is watching over us,and miracles happen everyday.
We need to pray and ask God to heal us.
With Love,
A Christian
Don't you know it, dear Christian friend! I truly believe in God's ability to heal us of all hurts. I know I have forgiven many who have hurt me in the past, though I will never forget what they did, nor will I allow it (if possible) to happen to me again. I find it fascinating that, as adults, we have so much of "the child" still in us. It makes me think about how I raised my own child...and I hope she has forgiven me for times I may have hurt her either knowingly or not. It also makes me know that when we deal with others, we are dealing with their NOW and their past, which can be difficult to understand.
Thank you for your comments. Hope you had a blessed Christmas and a joyful New Year.
Leah
Leah, when you mentioned memory loss and baggage that we may not even know we are carrying I thought how true that is. I write in a journal most days and have been taking life story writing classes. It's amazing the things I've started to remember, and how good it feels to unload it on paper.
Best wishes,
Kristi
Leah,
Thank you for responding to a message I sent you 2 weeks ago (courage and strength) regarding my 91 year old grandmother who has dementa in part as result of shock therapy for depression. I thought about this subject more since then and have come to some profound ideas.
The first one is that although she may not remember many of the memories that I have of her...I remember those memories that she gave to me. Things such as her preparing me scrapple in the mornings - or fixing fried oysters when I would visit her in Salisbury during Thanksgiving (not because my parents or sister liked them particularly but because I did).
Also, although there may be memories that we may not recall, you can be sure that others will and this is a legacy that we all leave behind. Memories are like photographs in our minds eye. They can give us hope but they can also hold us back. I hope you focus on the positive memories you have of others and let this be a beacon of light for you when things do not seem so bright!
A final thought is that I hope you do look at the future with promise and endless possibilities. Don't let dementia (or anything for that matter) hold you back. I recently started a private list of things I would like to accomplish in life such wants, wishes, hopes, and dreams. Until recently I had been unknowingly been underestimating my potential and possibilities both due to the way I saw myself and the way I thought others saw me. Then I met one amazing person who made me realize that maybe my perceptions were all wrong. I look at the world now and see more beauty in things I took for granted...the stars, the mountains and farms for instance. My glass is not half empty but half full...not of water but wine!
My point in saying all of this is because I want you to
still believe you can still have it all! Make your dreams realities in defiance of dementia. 
Dear Cuz
I can understand not wanting to leave your home on Christmas Day--
Truthfully, I prefer staying home as well. I like a quiet day with the tree lit up, enjoying a cup of freshly brewed coffee while listening to Christmas music, calling loved ones and wishing them a Merry Christmas, maybe watching old Christmas movies [Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life, Scrooge, Walton's Christmas [original movie]....
I love my family--I love sharing holidays with them. I go to my daughter's home Christmas afternoon to be with my children, grandchildren...but, I do love my quiet Christmas morning at home.
You brought up something I had not thought about--every Christmas morning my beloved maternal grandparents would come to our home to have Christmas dinner with us. After dinner, I ALWAYS went home with them in the afternoon to spend my remaining Christmas vacation. I loved them dearly and enjoyed spending time with them...but, was sad leaving my new toys behind. Is that why I like to stay home on Christmas? Or--is it because I now live at the homeplace that was my maternal grandparents--where I spent my childhood weekends, vacations, and summers? I do know I am so very blessed to live at my maternal grandparents homeplace where I felt so much love & joy? 
Dear Cuz:
How wonderful that you have these precious memories--and also that you learned an important lesson last Christmas....that there is memory loss that has nothing to do with dementia...it has to do with emotional baggage.
We all can relate to emotional baggage. Why? We all have it! [smile, wink]
Naturally a child would hate leaving their new presents to go away Christmas day...
Yet, many of us did the same thing ourselves--and then repeated it with our children.
You, dear cousin, seem to have the least emotional baggage of anyone I know. [smile]
Love, Connie
I appreciate the fact that others with cognitive/memory impairments suffer from far greater "emotional" distress than from the actual forgetfulness. We are a couple in our 70's struggling to battle as a couple to keep the demon dementia at bay by using emotional coping methods to slow the progression into Alzheimer's .
Many of us dealing with early stage cognitive/memory impairments realize that a big factor in coping with emotional elements is the constellation of "side" issues such as a devalued sense of self, shame, social isolation and stigma.
Wouldn't it be great if we had in every community a sharing social network of those suffering from these emotional issues. Too bad that as cognitive problems increase many seniors feel stigmatized and withdraw into self-imposed isolation. To break that fearful state, we can simply speak out and seek others dealing with similar "emotional" aspects, so we can acknowledge and support one another.
Anyone interested in helping to create some good community models for bringing together in a healthy exchange those persons dealing with the cognitive AND emotional issues. We'd like to share good ideas. We'll be happy to use this Internet "support network" to report efforts here in our Southern Arizona retirement community of Green Valley. What about other communities? Please contact us at: brainworks3@cox.net.
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you are just so brilliant, Leah - I fear that I may have this in the future as it is so much part of my family but you are being so brave and helping yourself along with it so much, it makes me not dread it quite so much. Thank you...:)
Cathrynn X
First off, let me tell you how I love the spelling of your name. I have known three Cathrynns...Catherine (my mother and sister) and Katharine (an elderly friend). So, your name being spelled the way it is fascinates me. I suppose I've always been fascinated with names...
Now that I've gotten THAT off my chest, I want to thank you for commenting on my blog. I know your fear, though the thought of it had never ever entered my mind until I started with the symptoms. Mental difficulties are not part of my family history.
I suggest that you use this site as well as others to learn about dementia and Alzheimers. There are also many great books out there to read. Learn about its symptoms and medications. Be ready for it. Fight it. Right now the best thing you can do, besides researching it, is to exercise your mind. Learn new things. Try new adventures. Make your mind work hard. The higher your IQ, the better when it comes to these disabling conditions.
Stay as healthy mentally and physically as you can. Live each day to its fullest and try not to dwell with dread this disease. If it is meant to be, it will happen. But, knowing what to do in advance can help keep it at bay.
Hope you continue to read.
Leah