We had a formal affair last night, the 100th anniversary of our synogogue. I had my tuxedo dry cleaned, shoes polished, and bow tie pressed.

I like tying my own bow tie. It is more authentic than buying one of the already tied ties -- more Bond-ish, though I have no idea if James Bond tied his own ties or not. Anyway, I have been tying my own bow ties for years. It usually takes a few tries to get it right.

Last night as we were getting ready I suddenly thought I forgot how to do it.  I even had to watch a video on YouTube to remind myself. I tried and tried. We were already running late and I became more frustrated and confused.

The worst of it was not that I was having difficulty doing this - instead I was convincing myself I had dementia, or worse. After all these years how could I have forgotten, and even after a video reminder how can I be so confused about what goes where or into what hole.  I gave up in frustration and had to wear my long tuxedo tie.  All night though I worried about having to have a brain scan and I started thinking about all of my forgetfulness and tasks that seem a little more difficult these days.

We came home after the event, and feeling like the Little Engine That Could I tried one more time to tie my sad little limp bowtie. And sure enough, it worked and I did it. I smiled at myself in the mirror, proudly showed Eve, then pulled the tie off and went to bed.