Slipping Away

My grandmother used to make the best hamburgers.

I don't know how she did it.

I don't know the spices she used.

I just know that she could stand over a skillet, throw some ground beef in there, sprinkle a little of this and a lot of that on top and, within minutes, the best hamburger ever was on a plate. Those things were so good. I remember telling her one time, back when I was too young to know this wasn't possible, that she should knock her fence down and turn the kitchen window into a drive-thru window.

I figured folks would come from all around to get one of Grandmama Jewel's hamburgers. All she had to do was knock that fence down and get a cash register. We were gonna be rich.

Last time I saw her, she called me Bobby.

My name is not Bobby.

My name is Gary and my grandmother has dementia. And that's why it's tough to hear this news about Pat Summitt.

The Hall of Fame coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols is a college basketball icon. Summitt has always been sharp and tough and quick, but she has now been diagnosed with a disease that's going to rip, slowly but certainly, most of that away.

I know because my grandmother used to be sharp and tough and quick, too. Now she's in a nursing home, confused and helpless. She called me Bobby last time I saw her. I still don't know why.
~ from Summitt's Diagnosis Sparks Thoughts of One Near and Dear by Gary Parrish ~

Imagine being the type of person who prides yourself on independence. Imagine being an avid reader with wide ranging interests. Imagine being a critical and strategic thinker. Now imagine it all slipping away slowly day-by-day until the point you don't even realize it's gone.

Dementia and/or Alzheimer's Disease sounds to me like a horrific proposition. It's one thing for our bodies to fail us, but when it's the mind that goes and it does so little by little, that sounds really scary to me. Even worse is to know beforehand what awaits you. I bet that is the toughest part of all.

What an open, honest and classy way of handling a very difficult situation!!