Memories of Mom’s Alzheimer’s

Memories of Mom’s Alzheimer’s

                                                                                January 25, 1921 – January 15, 2000

Alzheimer’s is such a cruel illness to both the patient and their families.  Some who have this illness lose their memory and forgot who their loved ones are. Others leave their home and get lost while wandering, some are violent and others are calm.  My mom was one of those people that was calm throughout her illness.   It’s so painful to watch a loved one go downhill while suffering with Alzheimer’s.   I wanted to share a few happy memories of my mom.

When my husband and I would get home from work, mom would be sitting in her rocking chair on the porch waiting for us.   While hubby was making dinner, mom and I would play dominoes.  Yes, dominoes but not the regular way.   We would sit on the floor and build towers and see how tall we could get them before they fell over. Mom would laugh so hard when they tumbled down.   After dinner, it was time to walk around the neighborhood.  Hand and hand we walked around the block, with mom waving to the neighbors as we passed them.  After our walk, we sat on the wooden swing in the front yard, chatting about nothing. Shower time was hilarious, I would get mom in the shower and try to keep myself dry but she kept throwing water at me and laughing.   I would brush her hair and teeth and get her ready for bed tucking her in like a child.

There were a few other fun times we had.  We own an interior decorating store and work room and mom would come to work with us at times.  She listened good and always wanted to help so we had a piece of fabric with wide stripes and I told her we need it cut into all green strips.   Mom took her time cutting on the lines between the green and white and at the end of the day we had a pile of green stripes.  When my dad came in, he knew we really didn’t need the fabric cut but it made mom feel like she was helping.   We did the same with coupons, she was so precise about cutting straight lines and had piles of coupons waiting to go nowhere.

Mom had minor surgery for a hernia and the day she was coming home, I had a doctor appointment so we stopped at the house before we went to work.  Dad was outside and I asked how mom was doing and he told me he thinks she is dead. I run in the house and she’s sitting in the chair with a blank look and just barely breathing.  The ambulance came and rushed her to the hospital where it was determined she had a blood clot, probably from not being able to get up while in the hospital for surgery, and ended up with a stroke.   She was now totally bedridden and couldn’t talk but she knew us.

We would take our then on year old granddaughter over to visit her which brought a big smile to mom’s face.   We never know if an Alzheimer patient can understand but we would always  talk to her, telling her of our day and letting her know how much we love you.

In January, mom was in an almost coma like state where she never opened her eyes.   When visiting her one Thursday evening, we held her hand like always and told her how we were moving in our new home on Saturday and my sister was all set up in her home as well.  We told her dad was well cared for and if she wanted to go with her mom and dad, it was okay.   What happened next was so wonderful.  Mom opened her eyes for just a short time, closed them and opened them again.  She had blue eyes, but this day they were the most beautiful blue, they reminded me of the color of the ocean in St. Croix.

On Saturday, as we unloaded the last truck load of furniture, my sister called to tell us mom passed away, it was like she wanted to make sure we were all going to be okay and she know it after our Thursday talk.  Mom had a long battle, heartbreaking to see her suffer but remembering all the fun times we had even while fighting back the tears.

January 15, 2000 Alzheimer had robbed her life and took her from us way too early.  Every time I see a penny on the ground I pick it up, look up to the heavens and smile because I know mom sent it down.  I love and miss you so much mom.