The hard thing with Alzheimer’s is that your dad or mom becomes like a child again, and you must parent them.
Each Father’s Day, I’m filled with gratitude — for my three children, who made me a father and who have put up with me all these years. And now, as adults, we still somehow seem to all like each other. And that’s in spite of what my wife, Carol, and I learned early on.
I think Alzheimer’s is so feared because losing your mind and memory would seem to equal losing your life, or the parts of life that most matter: the capacity to talk and argue and love and dream and remember who you are. It is one time in which living in the now is not a virtue but a detriment. People with Alzheimer’s are forever trapped in the present moment and unclear on how they got there and where they’re going. It is heartbreaking to watch a loved one go through this process.
That was a sad place. All the windows were locked and had alarms, and the entrance door required a code. Without the rudder of memory, my father and the nine residents in his unit all seemed adrift in a tiny boat on a wild, infinite sea — yet unconcerned about finding their way back to shore.
The hard thing with Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s and other neurological diseases, is that your dad or mom becomes like a child again, and you must parent them. While this is nothing new — children often take care of their parents in their elder years —is that a person can live 10 or 15 years after diagnosis. And so finding and affording good care and balancing/managing your own life can be a real challenge.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Tom Montgomery Fate: The wild and wonderful cicada tornadoSome are repulsed by the swarms of cicadas. But I find them miraculous: 13 to 17 years of waiting underground followed by a few weeks of passion.
Read more »
Johnny Depp beat Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks for 'beautiful' role in 'Edward Scissorhands'Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton open up about what led to the A-list actor landing the role of Edward Scissorhands in the 1990 film.
Read more »
Now ‘The Rings Of Power’ Can Corrupt Even Jolly Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo!I write about TV shows like House Of The Dragon, The Witcher, The Rings Of Power, Stranger Things, Yellowjackets, Severance and many others. I also cover movies, video games, comic books and novels, largely in the fantasy, science-fiction, horror and superhero genres.
Read more »
State trooper with checkered FBI past convicted of child rape in MontgomeryMontgomery, Alabama
Read more »
Child pornography arrests of 4 men by Montgomery County, all but one are registered sex offendersThe men were arrested after an undercover investigation by the county's Internet Crimes Against Children task force.
Read more »
Child shoots self in Montgomery Co. days after similar shooting in CheverlyTwo children shot themselves in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties within a 48-hour span. In one case, a child found a ghost gun under a bed while playing hide-and-seek.
Read more »