Reset

He sat at his desk in his room, trying to recalibrate his mind so that he would know what he had to do for the day. It was going to be a task to remember certain things for him. At this age, and at this point of his life, the man was prone to his memory being hazy. He wasn't as sharp as he once was, and that proved to be such a problem for him. It started with small things: leaving the tap running, or the door open, or even forgetting what time he last ate. But now it was getting worse by the day. He was forgetting himself, his loved ones, and the world around him. He wasn't sure if he would have any new memories at this point. It made him frustrated, but mainly, it made him sad. It made him think of how vulnerable his life had become. Once known as the smartest member of his family, with a high IQ and a doctorate in mathematics, the problems he once solved in a jiffy were now giving him problems.

He stared at his computer screen, trying to figure out the password that he had made to login to his computer. His hand moved the mouse over the "reset your password" option. He didn't want to click it. He didn't want to succumb to the defeat of a mind that was losing its power. He wanted to try as hard as possible to find out what that password would be. "What would it be, what can it be?" he kept thinking to himself. Everything in his life, from what people told him, was very simplistic and true to his nature. He might have had a doctorate in mathematics, but he kept his regular life and day to day routine as simple as he could. He didn't like to overcomplicate anything. He opened up the drawers to see if he could find some sort of clues to see if he can realize what the password could be. "Maybe I wrote it down somewhere," he thought.

With each drawer open, he saw a glimpse at the life he lived. Photos, papers, and random artifacts hinting at the life that he lived, which now seemed like a stranger's life than his own. He rummaged through everything, with nothing activating his brain to trigger an answer. He got up from his desk and walked around his room, and then the rest of the home. As he did, he walked by the photos of him and his family. The pictures told a thousand stories: happy birthdays, anniversaries, events, family vacations, and graduations. He smiled as he looked at them. No matter what, he knew, even if he wasn't sure himself, that he lived a great life. One that was full of great moments and events that defined the person that he was, and still is. He saw the family dog, sitting in the kitchen, looking at him with great big loving eyes. The dog got up and walked toward him. It was happy to see him, and he was happy to see the dog as well. He remembered the dog's name was Pal, because half of the conversations he would hear in the household involved Pal's name being shouted or spoken out loud.

As he knelt down to pet the dog, his wallet fell from his pocket and on to the ground. He picked it up to see that there was a small note stuck inside of the area where you would put cash in. He took the note out and looked at it. It read: "for all the answers you need, always remember me!" with the note being signed by Shelley. "Shelley! Of course!" he exclaimed out loud. He ran to his computer on his desk and passed by the photos once again. In all of them, there she was: Shelley. He might have forgotten a lot, but he couldn't forget one thing: the love of his life. Shelley was always there, and no matter what, throughout this whole ordeal, he was able to overcome any obstacle or pitfall with her help. She was his bedrock, his soul mate, and now, the answer to his dilemma. She was outside running errands from what he could muster up to remember, but he still felt like she was close by after reading that note. "How can I forget?" he thought to himself as he chuckled. He typed in her name as the computer logged in. As the home screen appeared, the wallpaper was of him and his wife, from their youth. As he looked at the photo, he thought about the photo and why it must his wallpaper. Possibly, it could be the first time they took a photo together, or, maybe their first date. Regardless, he was happy he was able to get this accomplished. He felt a sense of achievement.

"Uh oh," he said out loud. "I forgot why I needed to log into my computer in the first place!"