It is painful if the memory you want to erase keeps playing on your mind. On the contrary, if the memory that you do not want to forget becomes blurred, it is painful, too. Dementia is one of the most dreadful illnesses that people do not want to have at an old age, because it is an “illness of oblivion.”
The Seoul Metropolitan Government surveyed 373 seniors on the memory that they don’t want to lose by dementia, as part of the campaign to prevent dementia along with a pharmaceutical company. As a result, the number of seniors who answered “my life” to the survey was only 54 (12.5%), while the top answer to the question was “family” with 284 respondents (66%). More specifically, “children” came first with 38%, “home” second with 28%, “spouse” third with 12.3%, “parents” next with 12%, and grandchildren last with 7.4%. When it comes to the memories about children, 34 respondents marked their childbirth and 20 respondents their child’s school entrance or graduation at the top. And as for the memories of home, “family trip” came first with 38 respondents; six seniors gave an answer of “family members’ names and faces.”
The other words for the “memory you don’t want to forget” must be the “most precious one.” That is why we want to take hold of it to the end even if we lose all other memories.