A Christmas Carol
One of my grandmothers is dead, and the other is even farther away. My memories of the dead one are perfectly intact, but Alzheimer`s has taken the other woman we knew and loved, and left a strange ghost in her place.
I called my aunt today, my father`s younger sister. My grandfather, grandmother and their live-in health care worker were all at my aunt`s house for the day. My aunt said it was hard to get her mother into the car -- she howled because she didn`t know what was happening.
I spoke to my grandmother very briefly. She seems to respond best to, "Hi, Grandma! I love you!" and everything else confuses her.
My aunt told me some other stories about what`s going on with them -- some funny, some scary, all sad.
In a rare moment of lucidity, my grandmother had focused on some teddy bears my aunt had set up under her Christmas tree.
She picked one of the bears up, and.... attempted to breastfeed it.
So there it is, I thought, as I pictured this -- a scene containing the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight.
I called my aunt today, my father`s younger sister. My grandfather, grandmother and their live-in health care worker were all at my aunt`s house for the day. My aunt said it was hard to get her mother into the car -- she howled because she didn`t know what was happening.
I spoke to my grandmother very briefly. She seems to respond best to, "Hi, Grandma! I love you!" and everything else confuses her.
My aunt told me some other stories about what`s going on with them -- some funny, some scary, all sad.
In a rare moment of lucidity, my grandmother had focused on some teddy bears my aunt had set up under her Christmas tree.
She picked one of the bears up, and.... attempted to breastfeed it.
So there it is, I thought, as I pictured this -- a scene containing the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight.
posted by L. at 7:20 PM
9 Comments:
{{{hugs}}}
Amen Andrea
Poor Grandma. Nicely written, L.
Peter's dad lived with us for three months, and was heading that way... it's difficult, and yet, life is what it is...
hope you all had a really lovely day!
Merry Christmas ...sad for you to celebrate Christmas away from your home but I was thinking maybe in 2006 you could consider joining or setting up a writers group, to publish short stories or articles just for fun !!.
They could appear on ther blog too !!
Even a story about your grandmothers earlier life.
I think there is sure to be a writers group in your area and you may find like minded people to make some new friends in your new community ....just a suggestion for you to consider !!
Best wishes
Yup.
What ANdrea and Granny said.
What Lindsay said. There seems to be an echo chamber here. You write so well. You have a quickness of wit that doesn't show up everywhere. All of us who have sort of "bonded" have a sense of humor and of the ridiculous which may be one of the reasons we like each other so much but yours is a little different and comes out in your writing, especially your comments on other blogs.
Maybe "pithy" is the word I'm seeking and the one quality I lack (lol).
The only older generation family I have left are my adoptive mom (93), my brother (65), and one cousin who has to be in his 80's now and his children. I'm sure there are other cousins on my dad's side but everyone has scattered and once my Great-Aunt Mabel (the violin maker's baby sister) the family historian died many years ago, we all lost touch. So many of that group never married or never had kids, there weren't too many cousins to begin with. Same with my adoptive mom's side. We joke that they all left it up to me to keep the family line afloat. I tried.
This just turned into a post. See what I mean about "pithy"? Get a blog Ann. Oh that's right, I have one.
Nothing - just checking to see if the photo's working. It did earlier and I didn't even know it was there. Andrea is sneaky.
I know exactly what you mean. My grandmother is in the mid stages of Alzheimer's and she hasn't regressed quite that far yet, but watching the process is like watching my life in reverse.
Her mother, my Nana got to the point that she didn't know any of us any longer and was always searching for her missing baby.
All you can do is try to relate in a way that is comforable for her, which probably changes every few months.
Thanks for writing this.
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