Caregiver Accounts About Dementia
Please note that this is a personal story submitted by an About.com reader.
"Is your mother okay?", my cousin asked. "I didn't get a Birthday card from her." That's when I knew for SURE that Mom was going away.
For all of her life, my mother was known for sending cards, without fail, to EVERYONE, even people she barely knew. Meet her once, she'll remember you forever. And she was also known to give every visitor "strange" gifts: Toilet paper, a can of tuna, stamps, cans of coffee, whatever. Slightly eccentric, always loving. That's my Mother. That's my Fern. "Do unto others...." was her Mantra.
She's fading now, though still loving and wonderful. She says to me, "I'm YOUR child now", so she understands that her mind isn't where is used to be. She asks the same questions over & over, she thinks she's eaten , or showered, or written letters, or called someone, or sent gifts. Sometimes she remembers that she hasn't, but she'll "Do it tomorrow". OK, Fern.
My daughter-in-law's sister wrote something about their Grandmother when she suffered from Alzheimer's. It was a beautiful "essay". I will paraphrase here what hit home to me the most: It takes years for us to see the light from stars; they could have burned out years ago, but we still can see them.
As they fade, let's all remember the stars. I still see you, Fern.
