Fountain of Youth?

I watched an interesting segment on 20/20 last night about a girl who is 16 years old and has never aged mentally past 9 months. Physically, she's the size of a toddler and is unable to walk. She has two older sisters and one younger. In a succession of family photos, you see the sisters age while she stays exactly the same.

She's likely the only person like this in the world and geneticists are studying her to try to find out why she's such an anomaly. Could she hold the secret to the coveted Fountain of Youth?

A few months back, I read about a woman in her 30's who had an extraordinary memory. She never forgot anything. She knew exactly what event happened on a particular day, who was there and what the weather was. Initially I thought, how fantastic would that be? I could ace every test, never miss a birthday and avoid the social embarassment of forgetting someone's name. Then I thought about it again.

And this little girl last night made me revisit it. Sure, it would be fantastic to remember essentially everything and everyone that you've ever crossed paths with. And how wonderful to never age. But along with remembering the minutiae of life that would make you a great cocktail party conversationalist, what about all the pain? We know that time heals all wounds so can you imagine never being able to forget the pain over the death of a loved one or the sting of a breakup?

Don't get me wrong, I would love to have a cellulite free body and the energy of a 5 year old, but the last 42 years have brought me a clarity and understanding that I wouldn't trade for anything.

Not even the Fountain of Youth.