Stories from Caregivers: PD from TEXAS
TX
PD
FROM TEXAS
I spent every summer growing up with my grandparents. I wanted to be with them more than anyone else. Soon after my grandfather passed at 94 years old, my grandmother started to develop Dementia. When she could no longer live alone, I relocated to live with her and became her caregiver. I thought for a while that Dementia was a horrible condition, robbing her of all her memory of family and friends. She was 94 when I began living with her and slowly learning to take care of her. As the Dementia progressed she would have days when she was very challenging. One day as I sat thinking of all she'd lost, I was reminded that she is the last one left in her generation. She herself had been a caregiver. She had cared for and outlived her mother, her only sister, her best friend and only husband, her only son, all the members of my grandfather's family, her classmates, and all her friends. She is an awesome lady, but I now know how hard carrying all that grief would have been. She broke her hip 2 years ago during a time when she was getting increasingly distressed because she wanted to be around people her own age. While at the rehabilitation facility, her Dementia began to progress and it was recommended that her needs would be provided for there. She is now 98 and is happier than I have ever seen her. She is 6 blocks from me in her own town and they love her. Most of the people there know her and all the community work my grandparents did over the years. I check on her weekly. She doesn't know my name sometimes, but that's okay because I know hers and her story. So Dementia, thank you for being the gift (yes I said gift) that helped to make my grandmother's end of days not only bearable, but peaceful.
