Fabulous! What a great way to honor all those suffering from this #$%^(&)*$ disease!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Walk to End Alzheimer's - Flash Mob - Seattle
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
They had a fire drill today, during the daily Bingo game
We had visited Janet, and Mary and I were about to leave. We heard that some of the residents were playing Bingo on the 2nd floor. We joined in the game, briefly, because Mary wanted to. Suddenly, the fire alarm went off, and the announcement said Code red, first floor elevator. It was just a drill, but the fire doors auto closed, and what i guess are smoke retardent accordian curtains also closed off areas. So we walked to the nearest stairwell, Mary and I , and went down to first floor. The staff was going door to door and bringing people out into the hallway, and putting door hanger tags that read 'CLEAR' on each room.
It was good to see the safety plan in action, although Mary was visibly nervous and clinging to me. One gentleman said to her, "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you." He was a resident with whom we descended the stairs.
Couple of photos taken before the drill. So we went back up to see Janet after the drill, and she didn't even remember it.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Taken during the past two weeks, as we visited "Shady Acres"
Shady Acres is my nickname for the Sunrise Community where all the action is.
These residents are survivors, for sure, and many are quite feisty. Some of them police each other, reprimanding certain aggressive behaviours or comforting when fellow residents are crying.
It is an interesting society that finds its own level on most days.
My daughter , almost 6 now, does not like to visit. She verbalizes with clarity, that she wants to visit
Janet, but she does not like to be around all those other old people. (They all want to hug her or hold her hand. I am sure this is a bit offputting to a child).
She has said : "Resident's name" is going to die soon.
So far, not an accurate prediciton. She also says to me, are you going to die, you will die before me, and then I will have children, and I will be old, be a grandma and they will visit me. For a 5 yr old, Pretty astute grasp of the life cycle, if you ask me.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Janet reading to Mary
(video is at bottom of post)
Once a reading specialist/teacher, always a reading specialist...
I guess this disease hits everyone differently. Mom's language skills are still strong, as is her reading ability. She needs to be cued about tasks of daily living, i.e. tooth brushing even requires monitoring to keep on task, but the verbal skills are good. Doesn't understand when given oral directions. Maybe this is an area of the brain that is affected more heavily in her case.
Anyway, cute video!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Janet singing, sort of, the theme from Dr. Zhivago
She used to love this song and know all the words. Now, she hummed it, and threw in a few
words.
The piano player was the husband of a former resident of this assisted living community.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Mary descending a staircase
Taken at Sunrise. They have 2 wedding gowns on a coat tree, upstairs as a display. Tried to get Mary to model one, just for fun.
She sort of cooperated.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
It is still a house on a hill…
Big and little changes since November with Mom. We finally had a unanimous vote, meaning Dad agreed or accepted that it was necessary to get more total care for Mom.
Last Friday, Jan. 14, 2011, my aunt and I took Mom to ‘lunch’ at the above ‘castle’. She said, after we were seated, “Oh, I have been here many times.” There was no questioning, no “where am I, when are we leaving…”, nothing of the sort. It went so smoothly we could not believe it. She is interacting with others, went on a local bus sightseeing trip, and then out to a place for ice cream.
More activity than we had been giving her lately!
It hasn’t been a week yet, but the transition, for her, has been incredibly non-eventful.
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