She's gone....isn't she?
(Author's note - This was written last week)
Those were the words I spoke when I first saw my sister on that crazy, snowy, polar vortex surreal day. Moments after I stepped out of the airport and into a life without Mom.
Words I said again today. Through an amazing twist of fate, I am the Outreach Coordinator for an amazing moving documentary called The Genius of Marian. It is about Alzheimer's and the power of love and family. And today the film and the family were featured in an article Newsweek. And it struck me - my mom is gone. Tears. Many tears.
And this crazy, insidious disease invaded her brain. And Seth Rogan testified before Congress. To 2 Senators! Where were the rest of them? We have had a president, Ronald Reagan die of this disease. Alzheimer's Disease is reported as being the 3rd leading cause of death and our government remains silent. And we wonder why there is a stigma surrounding dementia. Why no one admits they have it.
I am a member of a closed Facebook group for those who have dementia and carers. Every time a post pops into my newsfeed, it breaks my heart. People who are struggling with this disease at 58. I have read posts from those with dementia saying if they die of cancer it will be better for their loved ones. Where is our government leaders' humanity? Give the money for research, for better care for ALL, for a cure. I am so angry at those who hold the pursestrings.
And I'm angry that she's gone. I know in my heart she is with me, I feel her often. I miss her. I thought I missed her while she still had feet on this earth, but if I framed my questions differently, she would give me that age-old advice I was seeking. Now I seek those answers in my heart, as she answers me there.
Those were the words I spoke when I first saw my sister on that crazy, snowy, polar vortex surreal day. Moments after I stepped out of the airport and into a life without Mom.
Words I said again today. Through an amazing twist of fate, I am the Outreach Coordinator for an amazing moving documentary called The Genius of Marian. It is about Alzheimer's and the power of love and family. And today the film and the family were featured in an article Newsweek. And it struck me - my mom is gone. Tears. Many tears.
And this crazy, insidious disease invaded her brain. And Seth Rogan testified before Congress. To 2 Senators! Where were the rest of them? We have had a president, Ronald Reagan die of this disease. Alzheimer's Disease is reported as being the 3rd leading cause of death and our government remains silent. And we wonder why there is a stigma surrounding dementia. Why no one admits they have it.
I am a member of a closed Facebook group for those who have dementia and carers. Every time a post pops into my newsfeed, it breaks my heart. People who are struggling with this disease at 58. I have read posts from those with dementia saying if they die of cancer it will be better for their loved ones. Where is our government leaders' humanity? Give the money for research, for better care for ALL, for a cure. I am so angry at those who hold the pursestrings.
And I'm angry that she's gone. I know in my heart she is with me, I feel her often. I miss her. I thought I missed her while she still had feet on this earth, but if I framed my questions differently, she would give me that age-old advice I was seeking. Now I seek those answers in my heart, as she answers me there.