Tag Archives: forget

Sculpture Garden

I don’t always know what to do with a beautiful June day, when the sky is deep blue, the air is fresh, and the sun is shining. But when I’m at Hebrew Home, the best way to spend it is in … Continue reading

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Play

I sneak up on my mom in the dining room and surprise her. “Oh, don’t scare me. I get scared very, very….” “Easily?” “Yes… no… very, very… greatly.” “Sorry.” We walk to her room and lay on her bed. I … Continue reading

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Three Husbands

Mom is sitting at her table across from Donald, and they’re smiling at each other. When she sees me, she beams. “Hi Donald,” I say, as I lean over to kiss my mom. “Is that his name?” she asks. “I’m … Continue reading

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For Mom, what once was

As my mom moves ahead with Alzheimer’s, I find myself missing some of the earlier stages, when she still had some sense of who she was and some memory of her past life. Many of those days were incredibly painful, … Continue reading

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What My Mom’s Alzheimer’s Disease is Teaching Me about Life

Seven things I know today that I didn’t know before my mom got Alzheimer’s. Continue reading

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“What’s My Name?”

“This is my daughter,” my mom says to everyone we meet, as we walk the halls of the Hebrew Home. “Why am I so short and she’s so tall? She should be the mother,” she says, pointing to me, and … Continue reading

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Winning and Losing

My mom and I had a good summer. I spent the long days after work meeting friends for dinner, visiting museums, going to outdoor concerts. My mom gradually, but increasingly, shed the worries that had burdened her all of her … Continue reading

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The things she’s forgotten

How to tell time. What she had for dinner. The house she lived in for thirty-four years, where she raised her children. The names of her grandchildren … or even that she has grandchildren. Whether it’s morning or night.                        … Continue reading

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Seven great things about Alzheimer’s (I wanted to do 10, but my mom couldn’t remember the last three!)

1. Nobody ever says, “Remind me to take out the trash …” 2. You have no guilt about eating that second candy bar, because who could remember the first? 3. There are always so many new people to meet. 4. … Continue reading

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