My mother, Gertrude Lucille Bauerle, turned 92 in May. Although she no longer talks or takes care of herself because of dementia, she still looks beautiful. She is always smiling, and the people at the home love her because of her sunny attitude. I just finished reading the book, “Still Alice” by Lisa Genova, about a woman who is a Harvard college professor and gets early onset Alzheimers at the age of 50. The book is written from her perspective, and what touched me the most is that even though she could no longer respond, inside she was “still Alice,” still thinking and feeling just as she did before. It made me so much more cognizant of those people we care about who develop dementia and Alzheimers and how important it is for us to treat them with just as much respect and care as we did before, rather than simply talking around them. I strongly recommend this book (although it is a bit scary when you see yourself having some of the same symptoms! 😉
Mother celebrating her 92nd birthday in Grand Junction, CO
