My grandmother has it, as well as the lovely lady from church that I served home communion to last Sunday. My grandmother's case isn't as progressed as the church lady's (who's now holding on to a baby doll, can't speak at all, and I had to feed her the communion elements very gingerly), but our recent visit on Memorial Day made me finally realize that Mamaw will never again be the same salt of the earth, child-rearing, gardening, cooking, prize-winning-roll-baking, cancer-beating grandmother that I grew up knowing. Her recent stroke has just added to her frail appearance, but I could tell that she still has something to say, only the stroke, adding insult to injury, has robbed her of that ability.
The wonderful thing for now is that I think Mamaw still recognizes us at least a little, so I have hope that family visits bring at least some momentary respite for her, even if she can't remember them the next day. But she seems more perplexed than ever by her surroundings (a nursing home) and, in our walk around the floor of her wing, the vision I had of the future ahead was more than disquieting. It is a cruel thing for our minds to erode away while the body is still functioning. I imagine it would be equally cruel for the reverse to be true. However, my only positive thought is that I hope the future cruelty is realized more on us, the family, than on Mamaw herself. Watching her frustration as she struggles to speak now is almost unbearable.
So, I wonder: where is the Alzheimer's research? What is the status? Is there hope of a cure? Is there a certain color ribbon I should be wearing and a place to send donations instead of buying more crap at Christmas for family and friends who are regularly purging their lives of the crap from presents past? I need to look into this. In the meantime, my apologies for this melancholy post - it's just what's on my mind right now. Here's a pic of the kiddos with Mamaw from Memorial Day. May God bless her every day.
2 comments:
I'm just catching up on your blog and wanted to say good for you for a) serving home communion and b) considering the donation/christmas gift idea. I think you're wonderful!
This is into our third year back in Philly with Mamaw, and I thank the Lord every day that I can see her, hold her, fix her face and hair, and sit and talk to her even though she can't really respond now except for nodding yes or no and smiling. Some days I don't go because I feel too emotionally sad to see the condition she is in, but there is always tomorrow when the sun shines a little brighter and I "regroup" and go bouncing in to visit! Just to be able to be in her presence is a gift for me. What a special lady and blessing to all who know her!
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