The loss of a mind, a memory is a painful thing

To see it happen to one you love is overwhelming. But sometimes, despite everything, the love endures.

Forget Me Not

Deborah Wearing's book about her husband, Clive, the illness that robbed him of the ability to remember, and their enduring love is Forever Today: A True Story of Lost Memory and Never-Ending Love

A rare incidence where the cold sore virus crossed to the brain did irreparable damage to the centres of Clive Wearing's memory. An accomplished musician and scholar of Renaissance music, he was struck by the disease 18-months into his marriage with Deborah, just as they were planning on having children together. The brain damage left him with a memory of about 7 seconds, violent tendencies, etc. He needs around the clock care and supervision, and until Deborah lobbied for care centres, there were none for brain injured persons in Britain. But despite everything, they still have one another, and Clive can remarkably still read music, whereas print reading had been lost.

A sad story, and a poignant one, but also one of determination, of loss, and gain. I'd like to read more.