IT’S HAPPENING more and more.

I bump into someone I vaguely recognise and who appears to know me, but I can’t for the life of me remember who they are.

It’s embarrassing - hearing them rattle off questions about your kids, your parents, your great-aunt. You begin to wonder, did they did a PhD on your family tree?

You hope for a break in their in-depth knowledge of your health, your finances and your children’s A-level results, or at least a cue that will alert you to their identity. But it doesn’t come and you’re left uttering bland “So how are things with you?” type sentiments, while still in complete ignorance.

Memory is an unpredictable beast. It’s there, fully functioning one minute and gone the next. I’m sure even the sharpest brains suffer those ‘what did I come in here for?’ moments, which hit most of us - well me, anyway - two or three times a day.

But as you grow older, failing memory becomes more of a worry. We try to reassure ourselves by brushing off lapses in memory with the word ‘forgetful’. But it's when you start to forget so much you have to write everything down that you really begin to fret.

But perhaps even then it's just the normal ageing process.

Studies have shown that memory loss can start from the age of 45, which is 16 years in the past for me. So, its perhaps not surprising that I’m having to resort to Post-It notes stuck on the kettle to remind me to pay this bill or book that appointment.

Sadly, I sometimes forget to read them, so have started to stick notes in my shoes, so I really can't overlook them.

At work, I find it hard to retain instructions as to how to do creative things on my laptop. I listen intently in training courses but it’s very much a case of ‘in one ear, out the other’, although, as I only have one functioning ear, all the information is still swirling around in my brain looking for somewhere to settle.

Maybe in six months time I will wake up in the middle of the night and instantly know how to make a podcast or a TikTok video. I’m hoping so.

It seems to be getting worse, so what can I do? Research has long pointed to playing chess as a means of keeping the brain in trim. I was never taught chess - we were more of a draughts and Ludo family. I don’t know a rook from a pawn and, with semi-permanent brain fog, there is no way I could begin to learn it now.

Bridge is another mentally taxing game that’s supposed to benefit your memory. My grandmother was a whizz at the game, but quickly gave up trying to teach me, realising that even simple mathematics was beyond my capabilities.

I could sit with a cup of tea on a morning and do a couple of crosswords - a pastime also thought to keep the brain well-oiled. But, in the same way that - with the exception of Wimbledon - I refuse to watch daytime TV, I don’t want to adopt a habit I associate with life’s final chapter.

Now research has revealed that exercise may be the key to staving off memory loss. Keeping active may help, a study suggests. Academics at the University of Pittsburg looked at 3,000 adults aged between 55 and 85 and identified a strong link between exercise levels and their ability to remember key life events.

People who carry out aerobic exercise - such as cycling, walking or jogging, three times a week - have better memory, results.

This is something I could and should do, if only life didn’t get in the way.

For various reasons I’ve become quite sluggish of late, and haven't been taking a daily walk, or cycling to the shops.

But I did have game of badminton recently. Invited by a neighbour, and not having played for 30 years, I was looking forward to it. Thanks to my failing memory, I couldn’t remember where I’d put my badminton racquet. Thankfully, he had a spare.

I felt quite good afterwards and am sure the hour-long game did aid my thinking skills, but you win some you lose some - I couldn’t sleep that night due to pain in my shoulder.