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| The Blessing of Lost Memoriesby Traute Klein, biogardener
I have a problem illustrating emotions with photos of actual people, so I am using fractals instead. They illustrate the complex activity of the brain.
If I am losing my memory . . .
Earlier this year, I had an online chat with a fellow Suite101 editor. It was our first chat, and we appeared to get along great. Near the end of the chat, she mentioned that the two of us did not get off to a good start. "What is she talking about," I wondered. It seemed to me that this was our first meeting, and we had a lot in common. We were, in fact, off to a great start. Her comments puzzled me, but I let them be. After the chat, however, I emailed her and closed with the following message:
The Blessings of Alzheimer's DiseaseMy mother suffered from Alzheimer's disease for 30 years until she finally escaped from its clutches to her eternal reward. For the first 20 of those 30 years, no one was aware of her disease except those of us who lived with her daily. She remained a great conversationalist, and few people realized that her life's events were slipping away from her at an ever increasing rate. She eventually only responded to the things which she heard or saw at the moment. Whatever had happened yesterday or even 10 minutes ago was no longer within reach. Once I understood the disease, dealing with it became easier. I learned to take advantage of what, on the surface, seemed to be a handicap, her loss of memory. If something upset her, it did not take too great an effort to change the subject. I knew what gave her pleasure, so I would simply start talking about her favorite memories: children, music, flowers, prayer. It worked like a charm. Whatever it was that had upset her would be gone from her consciousness as soon as her thoughts turned to a pleasant topic.
Upsetting the ApplecartIn the advanced stage of Alzheimer's, I would direct my mother's thoughts and words to the good old days and to the pleasant things which were happening currently, and my mother's life became happy as long as I was there to channel her thinking. Then one day without warning, her younger brother from California visited her. She had not seen him in years and did not remember who he was, but she never let on. She had learned to disguise her inability to remember people by listening until she had figured out to whom she was talking. Her intelligence was not impaired, and that is the reason why most people, including my siblings, did not believe the Alzheimer diagnosis. My uncle recalled old times, but not the good old times. My mother just listened. He reminded her of a person who had made life miserable for her and whom she had long since forgotten. She only knew the people whom she saw daily. Even her parents, her husband, her siblings, and her other children had slipped from her life. My mother got very upset. Unfortunately, I was not there to stop my "Onkel Hugo's" ramblings. All of his life he had displayed a mischievous streak, getting a kick out of stirring up strife. In better times, my mother used to tell him where to take his mischief, but those times were past. After that fateful visit, she told me that she did not ever want to see "that man" again.
Word of Alzheimer WisdomWhat great wisdom coming from an Alzheimer sufferer:
Alzheimer sufferers can indeed be happy if we heed this advice and help them to turn their thoughts to pleasant things.
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The Apostle Paul understood this principle when he wrote in his letter to the Philippians 4:8 (NASB):
© Traute Klein, biogardener
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