I am doing The Walk to End Alzheimer’s again this year because of three people in my family. My late maternal grandmother and great-aunt died of the disease, and currently my Mom has it.
It changes an individual’s personality and erases many parts of who they were. In the past, my Mom would strive to stay busy. When she did she would be all in one hundred percent. My Mom did make plenty of time for my brother and me as kids. However, once we got to school-age, Mom’s work became a higher priority, and we stepped up to do some things she did. These would include making dinner, doing laundry, grocery shopping, rides to different places and the like.
When our Mom did pull herself away from work she could not sit still and relax at home instead she would multi-task For example, if she chose to watch TV she would either knit or do a cross-stitch as well.
Also, our Mom could stay up late, really late at night. She would go to bed, but she would read a book or do crossword puzzles for a long while before sleeping.
In 2013 when our Mom began to have memory issues and grew worse she would nod off throughout the day and only watch TV. Her concentration could not handle much more.
The biggest, change to witness also hurt the most. Our Mom could do calm well and rarely got angry or told someone what to do. Our Mom preferred to give a little direction to my brother and me without dishing advice. However, as her personality grew different, our Mom did the opposite of these things. Eventually, closer to now, our Mom did become docile. However, once in a while, she does go back to telling people what to do just nicely.
As tough as it is to witness these changes, our Mom is not aware she has changed. She is happy with her life as it is. So I take this as a form of comfort.
I have updated my ask on my ALZ.org 2021 page. I hope to raise money on it to add to the growing pot the Meadowood Team has and help it reach its $2000 goal. If you do not want to give through one of these links, please consider joining the Walk to End Alzheimer’s where you live.
Every day someone gets a diagnosis of one of thirteen different types of dementia including Alzheimer’s. And as I wrote last year, there is no way to know yet what the future may hold for my health or my older brother. And while I will keep donating to alz.org, I also wish to keep putting my feet to the pavement for a good cause.
