Can you recall three words?

This morning I woke up and went for a walk by myself. A flock of Canada geese in perfect formation honked overhead. There were ducks floating by in a resident pond whose backdrop was the foliage of fall colors - yellows, reds and oranges. The front porches along the street boasted pumpkins, gourds and cranberry chrysanthemums.

A recent retiree said to me, “What I like about retirement is the amount of time I get to spend outside now.” Most of us spent our entire careers inside buildings, and drove to work and arrived home in the dark.

In my neighborhood there are two walking groups for women. One starts at 7 a.m. and the other at 8:30. There are also early bikers who hit the trails at 6:30 almost every morning. I marvel at the discipline of one of my neighbors, Jean, who never misses a morning jaunt. “If I don’t do it first thing every day, I won’t do it at all,” she explains.

According to WebMD, “There are many great reasons to walk. Your heart will get stronger, you’ll lower your blood pressure, and your bones will get stronger. Walking also eases stress, helps you sleep better, and can boost your outlook on life.”

Do retirees need to boost their outlook on life? Aren’t they stress free now that they no longer have to work? No. We still have families and health issues and money worries too. And way too much time to think. And some of us worry about our thinking skills.

I just read Lisa Genova’s novel “Still Alice,” about a woman experiencing Alzheimer’s disease. Actress Julianna Moore won an Academy Award for best actress in a leading role as well as the Golden Globe for her screen performance based on the book in 2015.

Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gets worse over time. The most common early symptom is difficulty remembering recent events, or lack of short-term memory.

This book terrified me.

We all forget things from time to time and we joke about it, but Alzheimer’s can mean forgetting even the people you love. Because my grandmother had this illness, I have increased odds of suffering the same fate. I remember visiting her in the nursing home when I was in high school, and she thought I was her grandson. She didn’t have any grandsons, only granddaughters.

Alice’s memory is tested throughout the story as she tries to answer a series of questions. The doctor tells her three words at the beginning of a session, and an hour later he asks her to repeat those words.

So last week while we were watching television, I asked my husband to give me three unrelated nouns and then I set the timer for one hour ahead to see if I could recall them. When I could repeat the three words, “Car. Street. Wife,” I was elated.

I can’t recall how many nights have passed since I asked him to test me, but just now I could recall them again. Phew!

When I researched this disease on the internet, I discovered that the Delaware Dementia Conference will be held in Dover Wednesday, Nov. 18. There is time to register, if you are interested.

Exercise is one of the suggested treatments to help combat symptoms of the disease. Walk. Bike. Run. Three words to combat memory loss.

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