When I was a child I used to respond to my grandmother's complaints about not being able to remember a word by saying that I sometimes couldn't remember a word either. I was uncomfortable with the complaints. I don't think it was so much that I was reminded of my own mortality as that I tended to think that complaints meant I was supposed to fix it, and well, I couldn't.

Now that I'm in my 40s and starting to notice the not remembering a word thing happening more often, I am NOT saying that in response to my parents' complaining about not being able to remember a word.