I read Su Menk's memoir I Forgot To Remember. She wrote it with the help of Daniel de Vise'. I'm sure it was a difficult book for Su to write. When she was 22 years old she was taking care of her toddlers and actually holding one of them when a ceiling fan fell from the kitchen ceiling and struck her head causing a traumatic brain injury. On top of that the strike by the ceiling fan wiped out all her memories. She went to the hospital and stayed for three weeks. With brain injuries the damage cannot be easily seen from the outside. After three weeks the doctors sent her home to take care of her children and to resume her life. She didn't know how. She didn't even remember she had children. She wasn't the best mother. But Su paid attention to her mistakes and tried her best to fit in with other people. Her body was still young and athletic and she used that strength. She ended up teaching aerobics classes. Her husband helped take care of her and she came to think of him as a parent. When he wanted to resume their marital relationship she was appalled. Before her injury Su was a spunky woman who loved to party, smoke cigarettes and drink. After her injury Su was passive and wanted desperately to please. The smell of cigarettes made her ill and she had no interest in alcohol. She became another person. She writes honestly about her life as she has patched it together with medical records and the memories of her friends and family. Her co-author was obviously a lot of help as well. She and her husband had another child, a daughter, and the two of them basically grew up together. Su learned what her daughter learned in school and it wasn't until Su went back to college, as an adult, that she realized she had been faking it all these years. I appreciated her honesty. One ceiling fan changed the course of her life. She never let it stop her. Her courage and her energy and her love for her family kept her going. This was an easy book to read and could be finished in an afternoon.
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