Today my dear Grandma would have been 98 years old. She died of natural causes in January of 2005, a half a year before her 96th birthday. I miss her very much. We were always very close.
The past 10 yrs or so of her life she had Alzheimers and Dementia. It was hard to see my sweet Grandma going down hill. Little things in the beginning. Then bigger things.
My mom went to her house every six weeks. We lived about 7 hrs from Grandma. Grandma wasn't keeping her tiny house clean, or herself, or her refrigerator and food. She wasn't paying her bills either or car insurance. She had a couple of car accidents where thankfully no one was injured.
Then in 1999 she moved out to my dear Aunts house. I used to go visit them every 3 months for a week. I did that for 5 years. It was sad to see my grandma not remember who I was. All my life grandma had been there for me.
The last time I saw my sweet grandma was July of 2004. I have lots of pictures of her with me and DH and my son. She didn't remember who any of us were and I cried a lot that trip.
So, when Grandma died, I got her ashes. I still have them. DH needs to build a box for them so they aren't in the heavy cardboard box from the mortuary.
I have such very good memories of my sweet Grandma. I'm glad I have the memories, they will live forever.
This is a great book if you are dealing with anyone with Alzheimers or Dementia. It helped me to understand and cope with how my Grandma was behaving.
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2 comments:
My grandmother also suffered from Alzheimers and dementia. Even though she passed away while I was in high school, it is still very painful for me to think about her condition at the time of her death--her fear, her confusion, her not knowing family members.
(HUGS)
It's a tough disease. It just robs them of everything. It's so hard to see someone we love so much suffering with this.
My grandma got really frail toward the end. But she always ate, until the end..
It was hard to understand in the beginning and the book really helped me understand why she did some of the things she did.
I went and took care of grandma for a month in 2003 when my aunt broke her knee and couldn't take care of Grandma. It is hard being a caregiver to someone with Alzheimers/Dementia.
I'm glad I had that time with her though.
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