Imagine this. You awaken in the morning and have no idea where you are, who are or who any of the people around you are. And that not knowing did not go away as the day progressed. It lasted all day. Alzheimer’s Disease does this to its victims. The Alzheimer’s Association aptly designates today—June 20… Read more
Without saying a word, Mother handed me a valentine she had received. It was handmade, but childish. Construction paper, crayon colors drawn in odd shapes, hearts glued wherever, signature scrawled. Emotions surfaced quickly inside me, spanning the range of what was humanly possible—sadness, revulsion, anger—anything but love and happiness. My father had made the valentine… Read more
“Tell me about when I was born.” An unusual request from my only sibling. But a legitimate one since my sister is almost 10 years younger. On a sister’s weekend, we had just settled onto our comfy beds in our room at the beach. Driving rain pelted our windows, roaring waves pounded the beach and… Read more
An aide at the Veterans Administration Nursing Home where my father was cared for the last year of his life told me something that broke my heart. My father was at the VA because he had Alzheimer’s. Earlier, when he had been fully himself, he had said many times to us he did not want to… Read more