Life presents us with possibilities which is what makes it extraordinary and complex. People have choices and feelings and wants and needs. We have senses and take in everything around us. From these experiences, we can compare and contrast what we like and dislike, love and hate and because of this we are in constant pursuit of concrete and definitive answers to vast question topics like “what is the best feeling in the world?” This question is subjective in the sense that we, as people, complex characters with each our own experiences, will all have different answers, but it is objective in that the answer is anything. Anything is the best feeling in the world.

Now that that’s all clear, I will begin with my objective best feeling in the world. When someone with Alzheimer’s remembers who you are.

I began this piece with how everyone has their own experiences and their own life and personality, they are complex and unique and wholly their own person, but Alzheimer’s takes all of that away. It takes them away. It’s like murder without the death because they forget, but when they remember, we celebrate like it was something so amazing. This is because for that person it is so amazing that they remember, when for healthy, regular people, it is as easy to remember as it is for them to forget.

I have always sought after the answer to the question presented, “What is the best feeling in the world?” and I didn’t know the answer until my sisters and I visited my great aunt with Alzheimer’s who is usually confused when she sees us because she can’t remember who we are. This time, her usually confused face looked kind, beautifully peaceful, and she turned to my second cousin, pointing at us and saying, “these are your cousins.” Needless to say, I had my eureka moment, and I thought, “This… This is the best feeling in the world.”

But it’s not because of the fact that she remembered who I am. It is because I saw a glimpse into who she used to be and how I used to be a part of that. I remember the great aunt who gave me a Little Mermaid toy set with all of the wonderful characters and my crush, prince Eric, and I laugh. Somewhere deep in her, she is still herself, and I can smile thinking of that.