momma's boy

Mary is a sweet soul. Sometimes when I am taking care of her I wonder if I am making her happy, and then she will smile or look at me and say "girl!" (I think this is her recognising me).

I know watching her Mary-ness slip away is so difficult for David and Gil. Unfortunately I did not know the "Mary" Dp grew up with. Sometimes I will see a quiet, slightly nerdy, woman and ask Dp if she is like his mom. It is my way of getting to know her.

Mary is a lot of work, I won't lie. Thankfully she isn't trying to jump out of windows or rip door jams off the wall anymore. Alzheimer's is the kind of disease in which you are never stagnant, things are always changing.

She has a special bond with Dp, she trusts him, and is most of the time cooperative. (scroll down for a guest post from my very own dp) But I  have that woman's intuition which comes in quiet handy.

• I was watching Say Yes to the Dress (don't judge) and the groom dips the bride and lays a big ol kiss on her. Mary chuckled for several minutes. Isn't that funny?
• David always tries to feed her with a fork, it is messy and she rarely opens her mouth. So I suggest a spoon. Problem solved. Who ever got fed by tipping food off of a fork into a closed mouth? Yeah. No one.
• Her favorite thing to do is to slide down in her chair. You could pick her up and sit her back in the chair and 5 minutes later her back will be flat on the seat of the chair. This is not only dangerous for her but physically exhausting to lift her up repeatedly. So I put her in a camping chair. She tried her best to slide out but she couldn't! Slouch and scoot but no slipping out.
• I beam with pride at how sweet my kitties are. Mary LOVES cats. CAT is one of her words that she has left. She sees Rigby and says "Big cat!" Ha! just wait till you see Abbey. ;) Abbey was a tad afraid of her wheelchair, which is understandable, once the wheelchair was put up Abbey and Rigby both sat near her. Rigby was very sweet, I think he could be a therapy cat if he wanted to, plus he would look precious in a working vest! (an excuse to show kitten pictures)







Guest Post- DP

I have always been somewhat of a mamma's boy. I loved listening to my mom tell me stories, from King Arthur to Dune. now that her personality is slipping away I feel sad that I wont be able to share those stories with her anymore. I do, however, take joy when I see my moms personality peak out from underneath the blanket of this dementia. Whether it be her singing along with a Christmas song, or her randomly saying 'sigh' when my dad says a bad pun.

I will always be a mamma's boy I suppose...