When the App Glitches, but the Mission Doesn’t
(A MiM Spark reflection on building technology that remembers what it’s for)
I haven’t written in a few weeks. Not because MiM stalled — but because I did.
I was wrestling with a “no-code” platform that promised to make building easy.
Spoiler: it didn’t.
After days of error messages that read like breakup texts from my laptop, I realized something that stopped me cold — I was living the very thing MiM was built to fix: frustration, confusion, and that creeping sense that maybe I was the problem.
Meanwhile, the internet handed me perspective in the form of a post by Mary Bruce.
She shared how a doctor dismissed her relative’s pain with the words,
“He has dementia. He won’t know pain.”
He did.
He just couldn’t say it.
Hundreds of caregivers and clinicians replied — all telling the same story: pain mistaken for “behavior,” distress written off as decline.
And it hit me.
This is why we built MiM (Memory in Motion).
Because agitation, sleeplessness, or withdrawal aren’t just symptoms.
They’re signals.
MiM teaches what we call translation work — the subtle art of listening when words no longer do the job.
It’s a skill caregivers, clinicians, and even founders need to practice every single day.
When the code glitches, when something breaks, when I start doubting whether this thing will ever launch exactly as I imagined — that’s just another kind of signal. A reminder that technology is scaffolding. The mission is the muscle.
And no algorithm or platform meltdown can replace what MiM is really building:
human understanding.
Tim is still writing.
He’s still golfing.
He’s still in motion.
And so is MiM.
Because we can’t stop dementia from changing the conversation —
but we can make sure the conversation doesn’t stop.
One More Thing…
We’re looking for a few willing humans to help us test MiM — real people who understand that this isn’t just another app. It’s a lifeline for those trying to navigate the small chaos of daily life with memory loss.
Give it a whirl. What have you got to lose?
After all, it could help not only you and your loved ones,
but countless others still searching for a way to stay connected, structured, and seen.
👉 livewithmim.org
Author’s Note:
This one is proudly Zombie-Glaze–free. It’s imperfect, honest, and human — the way memory, and meaning, are meant to be.
