As She Forgets
Called her last night and she said she hadn't heard from me in ages. I reminded her that I'd called for her birthday 2 weeks previously. Then, I thought, perhaps her concept of 'ages' has changed since she spends so much time alone. I asked if she'd taken her meds. She'd taken them in the morning thanked me for mentioning since she'd forgotten the evening dosages. A friend of my cousin's visited that day and for her the pleasure of the visit ceased early since, as she related, they had little in common, she couldn't remember whether the child with the woman was that woman's first or last. She didn't want to ask as she did not want her not remembering to be the subject of gossip. The woman didn't know when to go she said, irritably. I asked, "are you bored because you're forgetting or forgetting because you're bored?" She says, "50-50". Deep silence that turns to the dead air of the phone. I