Posted 1/5/19
As fast as things get worse, they get better sometimes. Mom was more lucid today, as you can see (perhaps) by the posts from Pam’s phone. Less anxious today, as of lunchtime. 🙂 Makes life easier for mom and for the Sweet 17 when things improve, even for a while.
Moment of self-refection/confession: Christmas day sometime in the mid-1980s my super duper, amazing, Sweet, funny, wise, can-cook-10-courses-of-Thanksgiving-dinner-with-everyone’s-favorite-included-and-have-it-all-finish-at-the-same-time-using-only-an-EasyBake-and-a-hairdryer, soap opera watchin’ grandma introduced me through her experience to a medical term I had never considered: Stroke. It was confusing for a mid-teen to process, so unfortunately I just kind of “moved on” from grandma. I visited maybe a couple times a year. She was in a nursing home for a very long time and the old grandma was gone. I never really gave the “new grandma” a chance. I missed an opportunity to love her as she was and to grow. But…but my dad visited, even when it sucked. He did his best to care for her. It was hard for me to see at the time that his example was growing me as a person even then. Thanks for being you, dad. 🙂
If you haven’t visited your relative with Alzheimer’s, I get it. Don’t feel bad. It is hard. It stinks. Keep trying. It will help them and it will help you. There are many reasons why it is worth it. Keep your head up. No guilt.
#EndALZ