today february 21st would have been my mothers 98th birthday
she was born on this day in 1922
this is a picture below of her when she was probably in her thirties
she was born to parents one a farmer and foreman the other a mother and a midwife
she had 5 brothers and sisters that survived childhood
they all died like her in their older age with alzheimers disease or some type of dementia
her mother probably had alzheimers when she died
her grandfather probably had it also when he died
she was a mother of 8 kids
she taught school for awhile early on
later she was a mother and a pastors wife
then
in her early 40s she returned back to school while she had 5 kids at home to get her nursing license
a job she did for at least 25 years
she loved nursing
she loved gardening
she loved her kids and grandkids
the last few years until she died at 85 years old was spent in the throes of alzheimers disease
her husband my dad died a few years earlier and probably had alzheimers disease when he died
at her death her younger son was in the earlier stages of alzheimers disease
like many of you with your relatives who have had or have this disease
it was or is not a pleasant journey
it was or is a long painful journey
when she died i felt like she finally was able to be at peace
having finally exited that awful alzheimers world she was stuck in the last few years of her life
so
she is one of the faces of alzheimers disease
my younger brother was added to the face list
then
right before he died
i was added to the list
so we remember her today on her birthday
we will fondly remember her at her best
the organicgreen doctor
No comments:
Post a Comment