Mary, Allen and the five youngest Slades came out this past weekend to see Nana. I was a little nervous-- How would she do? Would she remember her family? Would the visit bring joy or anxiety?
I arrived at her apartment 30 minutes before Mary and Company. We figured that I could go through the "family picture book" and familiarize her with the Slades prior to their arrival. Mom was very excited that they were coming, and we were going through the last of the pics as they arrived. She gave everyone hugs, and told them how much they had grown. She did a great job keeping up with the conversations, and enjoyed bowling and having everyone for lunch. At one point during lunch she said,"I have an announcement to make." We all turned towards her and she said," I don't know if you know this, but I have Alzheimers disease." We looked at each other and then said,"Yup, we know." "Thank Goodness!," she said, "I was afraid you would notice I forgot things and think I was crazy!"
The next day, we came back in the afternoon and stayed through dinner. We went bowling together, and Nana was the high scorer (Candlepin bowling is the great equalizer...) We celebrated her birthday and David's at dinner, and had another wonderful visit. Mary left the next morning.
Nana called Sunday, complaining of heart pain. I headed over to see how she was doing, curious to see what she would tell me about her weekend. I gave her some Mylanta, which got rid of the pain, and asked her if she had a fun weekend. She said, "Did I?" I told her that the Slades were in town for the weekend. "How nice. And how are they doing?" I reviewed all our weekend adventures, including the results of our family bowling competition. "I won?," she exclaimed," Now, that is certainly something I wish I remembered!"
As Mary reminded me, we are no longer creating memories for Mom. When we visit, we are creating happy moments; and this weekend, she had plenty of those. Thanks for our memories, Nana.
No comments:
Post a Comment