my story revisited #85-what were they really like

MY STORY REVISITED #85-WHAT WERE THEY REALLY LIKE

when i read this blog tthis morning i thought about my mother and my younger brother and what they were really like before the disease took over
what you saw in those last stages of alzheimers disease is not what you would have seen before the disease set in

i also thought of my friend greg who died with huntingtons disease
like me he saw his mom die with a neurological disease
later he would find out like me that he had the same huntingtons disease that his mom had
his younger brother died young before he was diagnosed
he likely had huntingtons disease

another older brother was diagnosed after greg died and he soon died later from huntingtons disease

i looked at the old pictures of my mom as a young mom as a nurse as a grandmother then later pictures of her through the various stages of alzheimers
if you line those alzheimers pictures up you can see the changes as the disease progressed

i dont want pictures taken of me when i get demented
i want folks to remember me as i am now or was 
not what i am like when my time comes

i also dont really want to be out and about for others to stare and feel sad for me
just come visit me and enjoy the moment
thats what we did when we visited her and later my brother as the disease progressed

my mom would have been 91 when i wrote that blog 8 years ago
my younger brother died a few months later
my visiting relatives with this terrible disease ended when they both died
i hope i dont have to experience it again

just remember your loved ones with the disease as they were 
thats what i do with her and him
thats what i want folks to remember me 
as i was
__________
02-23-2013
REMEMBER THEM AS THEY WERE

yesterday would have been my mothers 91st birthday
she died a few years ago from alzheimers disease
but i dont just remember her from those last days
instead i try to remember her whole life

this is a picture of her probably in her late 20s or early 30s

she grew up in a small rural area in southern arkansas

i suspect from being around her for years that she was a
quiet respectful excellent student that the teachers liked

she did have a stubborn streak though as we all learned
over the years
sometimes it was to do what was right for someone or
a situation
she usually won those chosen battles

she played basketball as it was the only sport they had
and was known as the lawson flash
because of her speed and aggressiveness

its those quiet ones that you have to watch out for sometimes

she was a student in elementary school
high school

she met the love of her life in high school and
at 17 they were married

she was a wife
then she was a mother
then she was a college student
then she was a elementary teacher
then she was a preachers wife and all that entails
including dealing with 8 pks
(no thats not prekindergartners thats preacher kids)
then she was a mother again for a total of 8 times
then she was a nurse her true profession that she seemed
to be made for and gave her great fulfillment

then she became a caretaker as my dad began to fade some
into some dementia which i presume to also have been alzheimers

then she became a widow

then she became one that required caretaking
something she did so well for others

then she reached the point with her disease
alzheimers disease
that she required long term care in a facility
where the disease as it does marched on unabated

here is a picture of her in the facility in one of the fun moments
there where she was having a good time with us
wearing one of my donald duck hats

however i want to remember her as a child young adult mother
nurse wife preachers wife when she was at her best

i think thats why i like that first picture the best

so when you see an older person or someone like her or
my younger brother with alzheimers
why dont you ask and find out

what were they really like
__________
do visit your loved ones as they age
they do appreciate it

the organicgreen doctor