I can’t remember.

That’s Preston’s famous and very frequent answer these days.   It’s something that we’ve had to embrace as a family.  There’s no condemnation or bitterness in it.  We’ve learned to accept it for what it is and focus on the humor and lightness that can be found in many of the times that he has said these famous words.

My sweet Preston is the most intellectual human being that I know.  And that intelligence is still within him now.  We affectionately call him the Preston 3.0 version.

This 3.0 version has serious issues with his short term memory loss  and we are currently in a battle to ward off dementia.   During Preston’s recovery, he had to relearn all of us.  In the beginning, he’d refer to me once by his ex-wife’s name, although he quickly learned I wasn’t her.  He couldn’t call the kids or me by our names.  Especially mine, becuase we were all more a part of Preston’s short term memory…. not his long term like the ex and Katie had been.   He’d refer to me as ” my wife”.  That was good enough for me. We’re inseparable to this day.  When you see him, more than likely, you see the “wife”.  And I love the closeness that we share.  I’m happy to report that we’ve overcome that mountain and he knows us all by name now. 🤣

The boys have learned to use Preston’s memory problems to their advantage….. especially Hunter.  Anytime the boys would come to me wanting permission to do something, I’ve always made them ask Preston as well.   Hunter’s the quiet thinker.  He didn’t start talking until he was 5.  My mama always said it was becuase he was just sitting back and soaking it all in.  She said he’d be the kid that we would have to watch out for and she nailed it!   Well, Hunter has figured out that he could go ask Preston for permission (and get it).  And Preston would forget to tell me. And here’s an example of the text messages of what happens when I find out:

Conversation with Preston

Me: Hey sweetie.  How’s your day going? Why don’t you get Hunter to bring you to my job this afternoon.

Preston: I am well. Hunter’s not back yet.  I’ll get him to bring me when he gets back.

Me: Back? Back from where? I didn’t give him permission to go anywhere.

Preston: I did. I forgot to tell you. He’s gone to town.

Me: Where in town?

Preston: I can’t remember.

Me: Who did he go with?

Preston: I can’t remember her name.

Me: HER!?!?!?

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂

 

Now, Hunter has bypassed all the million mama questions that he hates and got what he wanted!

Smart kid if you ask me!

In all fairness, I’ve come to see the memory loss as a major advantage for me.  He can’t remember my real birth date, so he hasn’t caught on that we’ve been celebrating it twice a year for the last few years. 🙄😀

On a serious note, I’m so thankful for my tall guy.  He loves me like no one else and I will throat punch you in a minute if you try to hurt him.  He’s my hero and my blessing from God.

Nothing is sweeter than getting a unprompted(which is another whole struggle) text from him that simply says “I love you, Sunshine”

That’s a sweet reminder to me on how real and true God’s miracles really are.