"I'm not an expert on Alzheimer's disease, but I am an expert on loving someone who has it." – Lauren Dykovitz
These are the hands that held me as I took my first breaths. The hands that fed me and changed my diapers and rocked me to sleep at night. The hands that helped me learn to crawl and walk and later, ride a bike. These are the hands that packed my lunches and helped me … Continue reading These Are the Hands That Made Me
I started writing my mom’s eulogy the other day. Not on paper, but in my head. Nothing has happened. Nothing has changed. In fact, things are pretty much the same as they have been for some time now. But we are coming up on the nine-year anniversary of her Alzheimer’s diagnosis. July 2010. And I’ve … Continue reading I Worry About My Mom’s Death Every Day
I opened up my Facebook memories this morning to see pictures from my bridal shower, which was around this time eight years ago. In one of the pictures, I’m sitting in a chair, opening gifts, and my mom is standing behind me, looking absolutely clueless. She was about a year into her Alzheimer’s diagnosis at … Continue reading Forgive Yourself for What You Didn’t Know, When You Didn’t Know It
When I was about eight or nine years old, I saw a Mother’s Day ad for Boscov’s that claimed you could buy your mom a beautiful gold locket for just $0.99. Holy crap! Just $0.99?! I immediately decided that I wanted to get my mom that locket for Mother’s Day. I was so excited to … Continue reading Mother’s Day for the Motherless
I see you, Alzheimer’s Daughter, trying to smile through the pain. I know how much it hurts. You feel as if both of your parents have just disappeared, vanished into some other world. Alzheimer’s World. They are gone forever. Only they’re not really gone. They’re still alive and, maybe, they live just a few miles … Continue reading I See You, Alzheimer’s Daughter
