Last 5-6 years of my mother's life was much the same. She lived to 98. Her mind was pretty much dead at 90, although she did have lucid moments. If you asked her "What's my name?" she would struggle unless she saw you every day.
Presuming veracity of that background information: wow. Call me sentimental, but both women here handle that about as gracefully as you could expect from mortal humans. A beautiful moment.
For me, I'm not sure anything is as to-the-core terrifying as the thought of losing my own mind.
Happens to me all the time. Apparently it's too small and immature to be left on its own for too long. I'm waiting for the day when it is returned to me by a policeman, three hookers and a Swami... with no one making eye contact.
Same here Glenn, I dropped a few tears at that. That horrible disease took my Dad a few years ago. It was heart wrenching to see him the way he was instead of the way I remembered him. His Dad was the same way and with him I was the only one he remembered. Why does bad things always happen to good people?
There is an argument that without these difficult things we don't really know what is good - we need a standard to measure it against and then respond to the challenges that arise. Some would just euthanize such people and think they've done something good but I look at the daughter and see something noble rewarded with that wonder moment of clarity. Its easy to love the lovely.
God gave us free will. That means he doesn't fuck with us either way, good or bad. It's been our responsibility to do good for a long time.
As to why Alzheimer's and such are so much more common now? It's because we live so much longer. We don't die from Cholera or Dysentery. Most of us still have functioning livers because we aren't the raging alcoholics our ancestors were. Our overall nutrition is far better. And we aren't exposed to as many environmental toxins as our ancestors (like, well, mold. Mold used to kill a hellava lot of people back in the day.)
Don't blame God for good or ill. He tossed us the keys to this planet and said, "Try to be adult about it."
Had that happen to my father-in-law. Leaving after a good thanksgiving dinner, I said goodbye to him, and he actually recognized me and was delighted to see me. He was a bombardier on a B-26 crew during the war, but had regressed to the mental level of a five year old during his last couple of years.
He was gone in early January. That was our goodbye.
Curse or blessing depends on how the parties involved react, I suppose. In my own experience, it was a moment of grace, for which I am profoundly grateful.
My FIL had Alzheimer's for a few years. My MIL lived in a nursing home right next door to him, in his full care home. On the last Easter of his life, I pushed her in her wheel chair, over to his place, to visit him, and for the first time in over a year, he recognized her, knew that they were married, and the whole bit. I still get teary eyed thinking of that day. And it makes me angry that the Democrats forced Joe Biden, who is obviously continually going down the road of dementia, to run for president, instead of spending his last years with his family, instead of being shown to the world as incompetent and an example of someone in decline. What disrespect to a man, who no matter how bad of a congressman he had been in the past, did serve the nation, and should have been left alone. I sometimes wonder how much research could be done with the trillions of dollars that they want to spend on so called bailouts, but which are actually bribes? Could 4 trillion dollars find a cure for Alzheimer's? I don't know, but I would much rather the Biden administration try that instead of spending on what they call infrastructure, but they spend most of it on school teachers, babysitters, student loans, etc. I am a strange type, who is both conservative but is willing to spend money on common sense programs that will benefit society as a whole, provided they show proof that they will benefit society as a whole, and not just a small segment of the people.
Everyone is complaining about relatives they had to watch fade away. Everyone except the anonymous atheist. You are a very hip individual. You don't sound like an asshole at all. But what about the people who don't have any relatives to at least look after them? Warehouse them?
Been there. Dad died in 2000. His body followed in 2004. Very cruel disease. Glad she was there to share a personal moment she will never forget.
ReplyDeleteLast 5-6 years of my mother's life was much the same. She lived to 98. Her mind was pretty much dead at 90, although she did have lucid moments. If you asked her "What's my name?" she would struggle unless she saw you every day.
DeleteNemo
Presuming veracity of that background information: wow. Call me sentimental, but both women here handle that about as gracefully as you could expect from mortal humans. A beautiful moment.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I'm not sure anything is as to-the-core terrifying as the thought of losing my own mind.
Happens to me all the time. Apparently it's too small and immature to be left on its own for too long. I'm waiting for the day when it is returned to me by a policeman, three hookers and a Swami... with no one making eye contact.
DeleteRegardless of how bad it gets, they're still in there...
ReplyDeleteThat bring a tear in any language.........
ReplyDeleteSame here Glenn, I dropped a few tears at that. That horrible disease took my Dad a few years ago. It was heart wrenching to see him the way he was instead of the way I remembered him. His Dad was the same way and with him I was the only one he remembered. Why does bad things always happen to good people?
Delete"Why does bad things always happen to good people?"
DeleteBecause god is a fraud. Simple as that.
There is an argument that without these difficult things we don't really know what is good - we need a standard to measure it against and then respond to the challenges that arise. Some would just euthanize such people and think they've done something good but I look at the daughter and see something noble rewarded with that wonder moment of clarity. Its easy to love the lovely.
DeleteAnon at 6:21 PM.
DeleteGod gave us free will. That means he doesn't fuck with us either way, good or bad. It's been our responsibility to do good for a long time.
As to why Alzheimer's and such are so much more common now? It's because we live so much longer. We don't die from Cholera or Dysentery. Most of us still have functioning livers because we aren't the raging alcoholics our ancestors were. Our overall nutrition is far better. And we aren't exposed to as many environmental toxins as our ancestors (like, well, mold. Mold used to kill a hellava lot of people back in the day.)
Don't blame God for good or ill. He tossed us the keys to this planet and said, "Try to be adult about it."
Beans,
DeleteYou might want to direct that at the (((bastards))) poisoning us through our food, water, air, etc. etc.
Dusty in here..
ReplyDeleteThat must be it because my monitor got blurry.
DeleteIt's referred to as "Terminal Lucidity". There's more information here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_lucidity
ReplyDeleteI can't decide if it's a curse, or a blessing.
If you think of it as coming back to say goodbye, it's a blessing.
DeleteHad that happen to my father-in-law. Leaving after a good thanksgiving dinner, I said goodbye to him, and he actually recognized me and was delighted to see me. He was a bombardier on a B-26 crew during the war, but had regressed to the mental level of a five year old during his last couple of years.
DeleteHe was gone in early January. That was our goodbye.
Curse or blessing depends on how the parties involved react, I suppose.
DeleteIn my own experience, it was a moment of grace, for which I am profoundly grateful.
Damned evil disease that holds the mind hostage. OG
ReplyDeleteMy FIL had Alzheimer's for a few years. My MIL lived in a nursing home right next door to him, in his full care home. On the last Easter of his life, I pushed her in her wheel chair, over to his place, to visit him, and for the first time in over a year, he recognized her, knew that they were married, and the whole bit.
ReplyDeleteI still get teary eyed thinking of that day. And it makes me angry that the Democrats forced Joe Biden, who is obviously continually going down the road of dementia, to run for president, instead of spending his last years with his family, instead of being shown to the world as incompetent and an example of someone in decline. What disrespect to a man, who no matter how bad of a congressman he had been in the past, did serve the nation, and should have been left alone.
I sometimes wonder how much research could be done with the trillions of dollars that they want to spend on so called bailouts, but which are actually bribes? Could 4 trillion dollars find a cure for Alzheimer's? I don't know, but I would much rather the Biden administration try that instead of spending on what they call infrastructure, but they spend most of it on school teachers, babysitters, student loans, etc. I am a strange type, who is both conservative but is willing to spend money on common sense programs that will benefit society as a whole, provided they show proof that they will benefit society as a whole, and not just a small segment of the people.
Everyone is complaining about relatives they had to watch fade away. Everyone except the anonymous atheist. You are a very hip individual. You don't sound like an asshole at all. But what about the people who don't have any relatives to at least look after them? Warehouse them?
ReplyDelete