When I came out of the coma, I thought I was 13 years old, and I was actually 26. Her brain damage had resulted in a condition called anterograde amnesia, which is an impairment in the brain's ability to form new memories. The damage also caused her to develop epilepsy. Even six years after the injury, when Laurel divorced and moved to her parents' home, progress toward relearning what she once knew was slow. When she first came she didn't know anything about spending money, she didn't know how to dress well-everything was knocked out.
Laurel also works at a local grocery.
When people ask me what I do, I say I'm a bag lady. The memory is more difficult to deal with because I get things juxtaposed and misconstrued. Even when I just walk around the neighborhood, I often walk in the wrong direction. A beeper goes off. Laurel looks down at her watch and reads the message.