I can only compare it to pain.
I am incapable of remembering the feel of pains I have endured. I have had migraines as well as giving birth many times without any pain killers. Once the pain stopped, I could only remember that I didn’t like it. My mind wipes away the memory of the sensation of pain – thank goodness.
Of course, it has been said that time is a healer, but there does remain a conscious selection of what we remember, especially when it concerns a loved one whom we don’t wish to forget. Most of us try to bury the memory of various degrees of unpleasantness, one way or another, unless we feel the need for vengeance. Then, how sharp the memory seems to stay!
Now free of the constraints that looking after someone with dementia imposes, I can look back and remember the good times, the happier times.
A glass of French red wine makes so many memories better!