As we travel through life, we find love in different ways, we face a lot of problems, etc., until we finally die. Death is said to be the rule of life and sometimes it is really hard for us to accept we are all going to die including your loved ones and yourself. Humans can die in different ways like accidents, sickness or just because of being old. One of the saddest ways old people die is because Alzheimer. Alzheimer is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking, and behavior. It is really hard for the family members to go through this with the person because symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily task.
In my opinion, Alzheimer’s disease changes the life of the person with the condition and the people that care about that person. Even though the disease is gradual, no one is ever ready for the impact the disease has on family relationships and responsibilities. As a great-granddaughter, it was really hard for me to overcome my great-grandmother’s diagnosis and her death years later. My great-grandmother and I were very close, we used to share everything and be together at least once a week. She was my secret-keeper and I trusted her more than anyone, until one day I realized something was wrong. She used to show me pictures of my dad and my aunts when they were little, and one time she confused me with my aunt in the picture. I started laughing because I thought it was a joke, how could I be alive at that time if my dad was in the picture as a 7-year old boy. When I realized she was serious I got worried, but I just tried to ignore it. Months later, she got lost driving and when the police officer asked her where she lived so he could help her, she couldn’t remember. At this point, we took her to a doctor and she was diagnosed with Alzheimer. After this, our lives changed and we suffered everyday seeing how she slowly got worse. The day I cried the most was the day she couldn’t remember me but told me: “I have a beautiful great-granddaughter that used to see me almost every day and I miss her, but I can’t remember her face. Do you know her?”. Some days she remembered me and some days she didn’t, but I tried to enjoy every minute by her side until she died.
In the blog “My Grandmother’s Alzheimer’s Story”, a girl talks about the same experience I went through and when I read it, I felt I could relate to her feelings in a lot of ways. She says: “My grandma has always been a high energy, fashionable, beautiful and fun-loving woman. She has also been one of the strongest and feistiest people I know. Her distinct sayings, lessons, cooking, and laughter are forever ingrained in my brain. We are bonded for life, despite the fact that she no longer knows who I am”. This is exactly how I felt with my great-grandmother and it really teared me apart to see her like this. The blog also talks about all the changes the person with the condition goes through which were the same as my great-grandmother. First, they start to forget about little things like where are their keys or calling her three sons each other’s’ name accidentally. But within a few months, it goes downhill fast. They go in a state of total dementia where they repeat themselves constantly until they can’t even remember who they are. Nevertheless, sometimes they have moments of lucidy in which their memory reverts back to younger years and all they talk about is things from the past.
The last thing the blog talks about is accepting the diagnosis, which I think is the hardest part of the situation… “I will never be able to walk into my grandmother’s home and be greeted by her loving embrace. Her phone number- a number I’ve called all my life is no longer in service. These thoughts alone are enough to bring tears to my eyes, but the bottom line is that she is still alive; just living in a sort of alternate universe”. This is exactly how I felt, like she was alive because she was breathing but at the same time dead because she just wasn’t herself anymore and I missed her every day. In conclusion, Alzheimer is a really harmful condition for both the person and his/her family. Seeing a loved one battling this condition is one of the toughest things to go through, but it is something we just need to accept because death is inevitable.
My Grandmother’s Alzheimer’s Story. (2018, October 11). Retrieved from https://www.alzheimers.net/granddaughters-alzheimers-perspective/
Bon voyage 