Do You Know What I Know?

Another story about my mother and her journey with Alzheimer’s was when she was spotted by teenagers in our neighborhood walking down the main highway near our house – toward I-95. Mom didn’t walk. This wasn’t her. Some people wander with this disease. It made us face the facts and decide what we needed to do about it.

After dad met with the Alzheimer’s Association, where they told him it was better for us to put her into a facility now while she still could adjust, we supported my dad’s decision to do just that.

One of my sisters and I went home to participate in this very difficult life changing day. When I walked in, I remember my sister, always strong, pulling me into the back room and crying on my shoulder. She shared with me that shortly before I got there, mom grabbed her and dad in the hallway, in a big family hug, crying and sharing “I’m so scared, we have to do something.” Mom didn’t know that we had made the decision to bring her to a home that specialized in Alzheimer’s. This taught me that mom knew her memory was slipping and she was scared. She didn’t know what help she needed, but she knew she needed help.

There was a lady in the first home where mom stayed that would tell everyone, “I’m going now.” She would slip into a time that her memory was gone, she wouldn’t remember things. Then, she would tell everyone, “I’m back now.” She would return to her lucid self.

This was the beginning of our family’s journey with my mom as she traveled through this phase of her life known as Alzheimer’s.