The Happiness of Mother
Posted by emlong at 14:51, 06 Jun 2012My mother is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, and it has been fascinating to watch what has happened so far. Mots of her life she has been neurotic which stemmed from being reared by emotionally distant parents, depression, and who knows what all. Like her father she had a photographic memory which has not served her well since she could recall in great clarity all of the subtle abuses of her childhood and then a marriage to someone with his own emotional issues and a tendency to emotional abuse as well. She has had a tough time of it, and it showed. What has happened as she has slipped into Alzheimers and lost these old memories is that she has grown happier. A lot of the emotionally disturbing incidents of her life have been forgotten with the result that she has to some extent been liberated from the burden of the past, and it has made her freer. I don't have any illusions about the ultimate devastation of her disease, but for the time being anyway it has given her a measure of peace in her life - a little blessing.
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Comments
10 August 2004
18 weeks 13 hours
I am so sorry to hear your mother has developed Alzheimer's - it is a devastating thing to watch progressing. How lovely that at the present moment she is experiencing some peace in her life - an unexpected bonus for her and her family.
My father developed this disease, but his distant memories were reasonably clear - what he did five minutes ago had disappeared into oblivion. Conversing with him was so sad as it was as if he had written a life-time of memories on paper, torn it into little pieces and, at random, drawn half a dozen out of a box before stringing them together into absolute nonsense. I was so grateful that he died of pneumonia before totally losing his dignity.
My best wishes to you all. Kathrinn