Reply #33: So sorry to hear about your mom [View All]

[DemonFighterLives]

My mom died last Dec from her bout with Alzheimers. When first diagnosed, my father and her had a role reversal and dad tried to take care of her with some day help. Dad fell down with a stroke and when he got back home and fell a few more times, he decided that they would both go to the nursing home. They were pretty young for the home in the late seventies, but it was a decision that the kids did not have to make.
The best advice is to spend time with her while she is coherent, because eventually, you will not be able to talk. Mom went through a stage where all she talked about was "Pockets and Gowns" and nobody could really figure it out. My sister wrote a song by that name. I think it was when she had to wear diapers, but not sure.

At one stage she was able to sing all the words to the old hymns and she sang like a bird. It was beautiful and different from the past. She never sang very loud before. One time she sang, "Let me call you sweetheart", to me and all I could do was stare into her eyes and it chokes me up right now telling about it. :cry:

Mom was a school teacher when she was young and the realization that she was losing her marbles was the toughest time. She prayed to die!
I'm running on here, but what eventually caused a very healthy saint to die was the inability to swallow. She went about 4 days without food and that was it.
My father survives her, but is very broken after his spouse of 57 years died.
:grouphug:
Thanks to all the others here with their stories and I give my condonlences to all who have felt the loss of a loved one.