Where Did I Leave My Glasses?

Where Did I Leave My Glasses?

By Martha Weinman Lear

Wellness Central

New York   Boston

Hardcover: 22.95

Available in paperback and electronic media

My Mom recently offered me a box filled with my Dad’s old reading glasses. She could never understand why he needed so many pairs. Increasingly forgetful, I have left my glasses in every conceivable place including on my face. So, of course, the title of Lear’s book was the reason I turned the first page. But from there I found myself in a world of mirrors, every page resembled my daily life.

Where Did I Leave My Glasses? Has a subtitle, The What, When, and Why of Normal Memory Loss. The chapter headings chronicle the hints of aging that creep into our bodies and heads until suddenly it seems we are aware something is different. Linear’s humorous approach to the informative facts about the process of age and memory, help the reader to understand normal memory loss.

Say Hello To Whatsisname, constructs the name problem. You know, the problem with the tip of your tongue. We go through the alphabet and rhymes, grabbing on to any life saver as you drown in that awkward moment. Or the equally vexing problem of the name suddenly popping into your head at the most inopportune moment. Normal.

 In Where Did I Leave My Glasses?, Leah offers evidence of what is normal and what is not but also details “that holy quartet of imperatives that the memory experts keep touting: a healthy diet, a good night’s rest, avoidance of stress, and regular exercise both physical and mental.”

Martha Lear is an award winning journalist and author of New York Times best selling memoir Heartsounds. Her interviews with neuroscientists, psychologists and evolutionary biologists form a backdrop for insights into the often frustrating problems with memory as we grow older. Sharing her own experiences, she reassures the reader we are all in this together. The anecdotes are poignantly real and hilarious. Lear gives the reader the opportunity to laugh and learn about this normal aging process, empowering the reader to embrace rather than fear memory loss. She talks about the 57 Heinz varieties of memory and why there are some things you will never forget. 

You will enjoy every unforgettable word in this book. Just don’t forget where you left it.

Available at booksellers including Amazon and Barnes & Noble in both print and electronic media.

To hear more about this book and to read an excerpt go to NPR.