03.30.02
Wireless, Jason and Macy
It’s been quiet around here because I’ve been swamped with stuff. Work has been nuts of late. That 16 hour day last Tuesday was just the start.
Wednesday was the meeting for PersonalTelco which actually was a lot of fun, now that I’ve got a wireless card to play with. While I was there I got others to set up to access a Wiki that I was running on my laptop. For the Win machines everyone had to go in and set up their TCP/IP config to use a specified IP Address, since I wasn’t running a DHCP server to assign addresses on the fly.
Once they each had an IP address, they needed to hit *my* IP address to get to the server, since we had no DNS services. It’s an interesting experience trying to set up a network from scratch, without the nice things DHCP and DNS and all those other services that you kindof get used to having and not giving a second thought to.
This week was also the last week for Jason, one of oour Java developers. He’s going to be taking his classes full time (Music classes) and so he’s going to be off the project. I’ve been working directly next to for the past few weeks and we’ve had a lot of fun discussing the usual geeking things like the symantecs of latin phrases and singing along with They Might Be Giants mp3s.
Some days were pretty long, but I did read some great stories on http://www.obscurestore.com. One that had been on a while back was about a woman near Washington DC who suffered from complete classic Amnesia. She knew nothing about herself prior to March 2, 2002.
She’s had three stories in the Washington Post, starting with the first one when we learn she’s reveal her identity.
I’ve been keeping track of the story through the Post’s Anemic search engine. I’ll include the first article and the most recent one in the Read more section. Good luck, Macy.
Memories Of a Lifetime, Lost in a Day
Woman Seeks Clues to Her Missing Identity
By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 17, 2002; Page C01
It’s as if Macy’s life began 15 nights ago on the side of the road.
Alone and shivering, she wandered past unfamiliar houses and road signs. She tried to flag down a man in a truck who didn’t stop.
She remembers reaching under the blue knit scarf covering her shorn hair and feeling a bump on the back of her head. She remembers searching the pockets of her blue jeans and long camel coat, coming up with $24.31 and a pink cigarette lighter. But that’s it. No wallet. No ID.
It was just after midnight March 2 when she stepped into a phone booth outside the Amoco station in tiny Round Hill, a town 45 miles west of the District in Loudoun County. She called 911 and told the dispatcher she didn’t know where she was — or who she was.
She can’t recall how long she walked that night. And she can’t remember anything else.
“It’s like I wasn’t born until that day,” said Macy, who named herself last week to avoid becoming known as Jane Doe. “All I remember is it was like I was waking up and walking down a country road. I didn’t recognize anything. I was cold, I was scared and I didn’t remember anything.”
Macy, who has voluntarily committed herself to a Northern Virginia mental facility, has what her doctor calls a classic case of amnesia. Her life before March 2 is blank. There are no mental snapshots of friends or family, no recollections of playing tag in her old neighborhood. She doesn’t know if she is a wife, or a mother, or has a favorite color. She remembers no movies, no books, no names, no faces, no places.
As she watched CNN last week she didn’t recognize President Bush and “didn’t get it” when she saw footage of planes crashing into the World Trade Center.
Now, she can only wonder where she goes from here. She’s at once frightened and hopeful. But mostly, Macy said, it’s emptiness that has enveloped her.
“You can’t miss something you don’t remember,” she explained. “I hear people talking about their families and I think, ‘Family, what is that?’ “
Medical experts say cases like Macy’s, in which someone experiences such a complete loss of memory, are rare but not unheard of. Amnesia can be caused by a blow to the head, a medical condition such as a stroke or brain tumor, or a traumatic event. Usually, the effects are short-term and the period of time forgotten is limited. In many cases, the memories eventually return.
Macy’s doctors said brain scans and other medical tests show that she is healthy, and they suspect that she may have been through something so terrible that her mind closed off her memories to protect her. Whatever her past holds, Macy says, she wants to know.
“I need to find out who I am and where I’m supposed to be,” she said. “No matter what it is, I have to go through with it.”
Macy, who has bright blue eyes, a warm laugh and appears to be in her forties, has no tattoos, no scars. Her only jewelry was a dainty watch with a brown leather band. Fairfax County police officer Keela Lowry, who is trying to help Macy, ran her fingerprints through law enforcement and military databases and has checked missing persons reports.
Macy is searching, too.
A few days ago, she slipped on the clothes she wore that night — jeans and a white sweat shirt with fans embroidered on the front — hoping that the outfit would trigger some recollection: “Nothing.” When she goes out, she peers at customers in stores and drivers in passing cars and wonders if she knows them.
Macy has stumbled across things that seem familiar. A desire to paint her nails a cheery bright pink made her think she used to like to primp. A walk around a lake gave her the sense that she’s an outdoors person. She can’t explain why she chose the name Macy, but wonders if her subconscious has given her a clue.
Macy’s doctors say all she can do is wait. She said she’s also praying, even though she doesn’t know if she worshiped before.
Mark A. Wheeler, an assistant professor of psychology at Temple University, said Macy’s memories are still there, she just can’t conjure them. The brain stores different bits of a memory in different areas, Wheeler explained — the roar of the crowd in one, the winning home run somewhere else. The brain puts them together to form a memory of the ballgame, but amnesia victims lose that ability.
“It’s tempting to say she had these memories and now they are wiped out, but what’s happened is now she can’t put the traces of her memories together,” Wheeler said.
As she waits for her memories to return, Macy’s busy relearning society’s common past. Watching the news taught her that there is a war in Afghanistan, and she is learning anew some classic rock tunes. She gobbles up the newspaper each day and has become a fan of the History Channel.
The other day, she joined some patients watching a television documentary about the firefighters who responded to the terrorist attacks. At first Macy was stunned, then she began asking questions.
“I was like, ‘This can’t be real,’ ” she said. “I was asking what happened and they told me about the fire, and the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.”
Macy’s catching up on more mundane things, too. During a trip to Best Buy, she was overwhelmed by the selection of gadgets.
If the people who are part of her old life find her, she still might not remember them, medical experts said. But she can learn.
Whatever happens, Macy says that, for now, she’s happily creating new memories. “I believe God works in His own time,” she said. “He brought me here and I’m alive and breathing and healthy, and that in itself is a miracle.”
Macy has befriended fellow patients, and one wrote her a poem called “Macy With Amnesia.” She’s decided she’s fond of apple pie and can do without rap music.
“I’m starting from nowhere,” she said.
Anyone with information about Macy may call the Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
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Confronting Unfamiliar Name, Life
Woman’s Journey Began On Lonely Loudoun Road
By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 29, 2002; Page B01
She answers to two names now.
Some people know her as Macy, the name she gave herself nearly a month ago when she was found on a Loudoun County road suffering from amnesia. But her doctors call her Sandy, the person fingerprints have shown she is.
In an interview yesterday morning, Sandy said getting used to her name is the first step of a slow and scary reintroduction into a life that she’s been told is hers but that seems like a stranger’s. She doesn’t want to reveal her last name or the few details she’s learned about her past until she has had time to process them.
“I’m very nervous, very scared,” she said. “It’s the uncertainty of something that is unfamiliar and unknown. It’s like it’s somebody else they’re talking about.”
Sandy, who appears to be in her forties, still has no memory of the people, places and events of her past but has been told that she lived in Reston and that she had a job, although she won’t say what. Authorities haven’t been able to track down any relatives, she said, but they are working on it. She hasn’t yet had any contact with friends or co-workers.
Many pieces of the puzzle are still missing, and none of the facts she has learned about her past seems familiar.
“I don’t know who that person is,” she said. “They are still trying to find out: Was there a husband, were there children?”
It was just after midnight March 2 when Sandy called 911 from a phone booth in Round Hill, a tiny Loudoun County town about 45 miles west of the District. She told police that she had found herself wandering the streets alone in the cold. She carried no identification, has no tattoos or scars and didn’t remember who she was or how she got there.
Sandy has voluntarily committed herself to a Northern Virginia mental hospital and was diagnosed with what her doctors called a classic case of amnesia. After weeks of fruitless searching, Fairfax County police matched her fingerprints this week to a set entered in a law enforcement database years ago for a minor criminal case.
Fairfax police said the event or condition that sparked Sandy’s amnesia and how she ended up in Round Hill remain a mystery. The criminal investigation has been closed, but officers will continue assisting Sandy as she tracks down the people and places in her life.
Although she is anxious to know more, Sandy said, she wants to take it slow, and she’s thankful she has help rediscovering her past.
“I’ve gotten a lot of information in the past few days, and I don’t want to have an overload,” she said. “Most of this is going to be a surprise. I’m going to take the good with the bad, no matter what happens. I don’t think any of us is without fault.”
Medical experts said cases like Sandy’s, with such a complete loss of memory, are rare but have been documented. Amnesia can be caused by a blow to the head, a medical condition such as a stroke or brain tumor or a traumatic event. Usually, the effects are short-term and the period of time forgotten is limited. In many cases, the memories return.
Although Sandy remembers how to read and has an extensive vocabulary, she said she has no memory of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and didn’t know George W. Bush was president. Television shows and songs are unfamiliar, she said.
Sandy plans to stay at the hospital for the time being so doctors and mental health providers can help her ease into her life. She said she is taking classes on coping skills and relearning how to cook. She has also built relationships with other patients and has been turning to her new friends for support.
Sandy said she sees her situation as a new beginning.
“Macy is who I discovered,” she said. “I think I must be a strong-willed person, and that will get me through anything.”
© 2002 The Washington Post Company