Remind Me Why I’m Here: Sifting through Sudden Loss of Memory and Judgment

Diana Lund
iUniverse (2006)
ISBN 0595383513
Reviewed by Cathy Yanda for Reader Views (10/06)

Diana Lund’s story cannot help but inspire anyone who reads “Remind Me Why I’m Here.” As the reader is increasingly drawn into her daily life, one quickly realizes how different her life has become. One day she is a top-ranked project manager; the next, she is struggling to be able to focus on her computer monitor. One day she is able to keep track of work and social commitments; the next she sits and cannot concentrate on even one small task. One day she is a woman in love, thinking of marriage and children; the next she is dependant on him for everything from grocery shopping to keeping appointments straight. One day she is a loving daughter; the next she doesn’t recognize her mother in a restaurant. There is much more.

As the reader walks with Diana in her daily life, watching her trying to fit into her previous work and social life, continuing to do her best to research what is going on with her, one can’t help but develop great respect for this remarkable woman. This is not only a memoir. It is an eye opening look into something that could happen to any of us. Diana learns to set the laundry basket in the middle of the living room floor to remind her that she has a load of laundry in the washing machine. She puts a sign in the kitchen to remind herself to set a timer when she puts food on the stove so it will not burn. She discloses many other tricks that could be helpful to those who are aging.

Over time, Diana’s relationship with her boyfriend fizzles, she loses her job, and she loses track of her finances. Many of us would have given up on things. She did not. She worked harder to learn all she could, to write things down because she knew wouldn’t remember them, and to keep the journal that eventually contributed to this book. Diana, now in love with a wonderful man, writes, “I am at peace with who I am. My new life of work brings joy, creativity and goodness to me, as does my partner-for-life.” She is not a whisper of the woman she was before the injury, but truly a shouting voice for those who have endured brain trauma. “Remind Me Why I’m Here” is beautifully written and should be in the waiting area of every neurologist. Personally, I am eager to read her second memoir.

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