my memory is returning from vacation

I'm just so happy about this, I wanted to share. This afternoon, I was walking up Main Street, and I passed a guy and girl. Well, big deal, Jeff, that's called "being in public". But about 15 steps later, I thought "You know, she kinda looked familiar. Nah, couldn't be, been wrong about that too many times already." Then about 5 more steps, and I became convinced she looked familiar. So I stopped, turned around, hurried to catch up, and said "Pardon me, my memory's been through a coma, but you look familiar, kinda. Do you know me?" It didn't take her 3 seconds to say "YES! Holy cow! Jeff, I'm Valerie! How ARE you?" So we got to sorting it out, and she was one of my coworkers at the computer-geek job. AND she apparently left that job well before my ordeal. And I even guessed her last name correctly!

So I just recognized somebody I haven't seen since well BEFORE the car incident! So I didn't lose my memories, they just went on vacation! And just like when you return from a good vacation, you return slow & in pieces-- how many pieces you're in depends on how good the vacation was. (I'll leave it to you to determine if returning in many pieces means it was an awesome vacation, or a horrible one; maybe that depends on your tone of voice, excited or fearful, when you say "And then the gator opened his jaws...")

And the fact that I didn't recognize mom & dad on day 1 of being conscious, well that was normal, even pre-TBI. I've just been betting since I was young that as long as I call this lady "mom", she'll keep my fridge well stocked, and as long as I call this guy "dad", he'll continue to drive me places. Seems to me like a good trade, they're good folks, and it's worked well so far. I'm just surprised I picked them so well when I went shopping at Parents-Mart when I was a toddler-- it's not like I had any clue what I was doing.