You don't need long term memory to love.

This man can only remember three things:
- The past 30 seconds, if he's lucky
- How to play the piano
- The love of his life, his wife



Clive Wearing

Clive Wearing (May 11, 1938) is a British musicologist, conductor, and keyboardist suffering from an acute and long-lasting case of anterograde and retrograde amnesia. Specifically, this means he lacks the ability to form new memories, dubbed the "memento" syndrome by laypeople and the media, after a film of the same name based on the subject...

His love for his second wife Deborah, whom he married the year prior to his illness, is undiminished. He greets her joyously every time they meet, believing he has not seen her in years, even though she may have just left the room to fetch a glass of water. When he goes out dining with his wife, he can remember the name of the food (e.g. chicken); however he cannot link it with taste, as he has forgotten.

Love is still possible even without memory... Love is the most powerful emotion... I love all you tinfoil hat wearing ATS'ers

reply to post by JJDoggie84


Dear JJDoggie84,

That was beautiful and I loved your description of it. Amazing. I have a thread I have started on what people's view of God is, how they perceive him. I want to post a link on my thread to your thread so that they can read it and see it.

reply to post by AQuestion


Cool that means a lot to me... Thanks for linking to this thread.

while I can't say I would want to be him, imagine the joy he feels everytime he tries something new. everlasting puppy love. He is living a dream.

reply to post by JJDoggie84


Thanks to Question for posting this in his thread, and special thanks to the JJ for the OP.


This is an incredible story. It's amazing at how profound the fingerprint of love has left on this man... when he was sitting on the couch explaining how he remembers nothing, but then jumps up when his wife entered the room -- wow.

Love conquers all.

reply to post by AdamsMurmur


Dear AdamsMurmer,

Do you see the connection, do you see it, the connection is love. This man is a sentient being and no matter what he refuses to remember, he continues to grow and love. He also remembers language and that takes years to learn. Matter and wave. The love is the wave and he is the matter. The video is talking about quantum physics in the end.

Originally posted by JJDoggie84
Love is still possible even without memory... Love is the most powerful emotion... I love all you tinfoil hat wearing ATS'ers

What is equally special is her love for him. Not many people could be what she is to him, his whole world, without either suffocating or becoming the 'parent' of their dependent spouse.

Isn't he lucky to have found someone of such patience who accepts him, and loves him for who he is? Although, admittedly, I could very easily love a man who responded in that way everytime I walked into a room.

It appears to be a very special relationship.

Thank you for sharing that.