Memory is a terrible thing to lose. I left the gym and stepped into the darkness of a world I had never seen before. I stood confused, disoriented.
Shortly before, I took a hard jab to the head from another kickboxer during training. I shook it off and completed the sparring rounds. And now I had no idea where I was. I stood looking around in the half-light of the parking lot, knowing I must have driven myself here.
I couldn’t recall my vehicle. Other trainees were chatting and laughing as they headed for their own cars. They slapped me on the back, their voices like from the bottom of a well.
Finally, only three cars remained in the lot. The keys in my pocket had to fit one of them. Sure enough. The black Nissan pickup.
I started the engine.
Shock followed shock. I couldn’t remember where I lived, not even the name of the city. I couldn’t remember my Mom’s telephone number to have her come get me. I remembered none of my friends’ names, not even that of my long-time girlfriend. I sat there in the dark literally not knowing what to do.
I was not accustomed to helplessness. I was an ex-cop, a Green Beret paratrooper. I had been to wars, worked mean streets as a cop in two major cities. I was the guy others came to for help.
Later, I realized I suffered a concussion.
Relying on pure logic, I finally made my way home using the address on my driver’s license. I failed to recognize my apartment when I got there, but the keys fit the door. I stepped inside, hoping I was in the right place. I found the light switch, found the bedroom. . .
When I awoke the next morning fully recovered, it was with a new sense of humility and understanding for those many people in the world who suffered through permanent hardships and lived in their worlds of darkness.
Police Detective James Nail is wounded and his daughter murdered in an attack on “Right-Wing” TV personality Jerry Baer. . . As he tracks down the shooters, he discovers a conspiracy that leads to an international cartel of “One Worlders” that may implicate the President of the United States. . .
From A Thousand Years of Darkness by Charles W. Sasser. Available in paperback and Kindle from Amazon.com, and from BarnesandNoble.com and through fine bookstores.
You handled it very well. Odd that your only symptom was loss of memory of your car, your mother’s number, where you lived. You could still remember what your car key was. You could still reason and figure things out.
Hi, Carol. Good to hear from you. It was indeed an interesting night–afterwards. God bless.
chuck sasser
Frightening! Most of the time we never fully appreciate the basics until we lose those functions like sight, hearing, and heartbeats.
Hi, Sally. You are so right, girl. Take care, old friend. chuck sasser
Concussions can do weird things to your brain. I’ve had two where I lost consciousness for a while and left long term scars on my skull. The only permanent damage I sustained was tinnitus and a loss of a band of mid range highs hearing in my right ear. It comes in handy when I want to claim I didn’t hear Sue ask me to do something I want to avoid.
You know, Jim. I never thought, why I can’t hear so well now. I’ll have to use that for an excuse when I don’t want to hear Donna Sue. You wily old fox.
chuck sasser
I’m not too self conscious when it comes to making a fool of myself, if someone will be amused by it. That being said, for years now, I’ll blurt out what I heard, and let them laugh (at least among friends and family). One of the more memorable recently was when my 4 year old grand daughter said something at her birthday party, and I heard “All hail the Great Lizard Butt”. By the time everyone finished laughing, no one could tell me what she had actually said, they had all forgotten it, but Kylie remains the “Great Lizard Butt”, even two years later.
In sports and in the Army I used to hear over three decades the phrase: “Getting your bell rung.” I’ve never had a concussion that I knew about when I played football and parachuted. Curious if the persistent ringing occurs when a concussion happens?
I’ve had severe Tinnitus for 45 years now (from a pressure anomaly during 106 Recoilless Rifle shooting, compounded by a piece of cotton in my ear that I didn’t know was there. The cotton played handball on my ear drum).