Forget me not

At the same time the news was devastating, yet somehow a relief. Mama has Alzheimer's. We got the official diagnosis a couple of weeks ago after years of dementia and delusions that doctors were at a loss to explain, despite repeated MRIs and CAT scans.

I now realize I have a calling. I will be walking in the Greensboro Memory Walk, a fundraiser for the Alzheimer's Association, on June 2nd. And during this time, I have truly found out who my friends are. Even friends I didn't know I had. After I talked about it on the radio, I suddenly had people wanting to join me on the walk-- people whose lives had also been deeply affected by Alzheimer's. Generous donations are coming in from friends and family.

I have also found out that you might as well laugh as cry when someone you love has this disease. It's the only way to keep your own sanity when that person is slowly being robbed of his or her personality. It truly is an adventure. In the past two months, Mama thinks she has gotten married, saved someone who's been dead for two years from a fire at their home and taken Pat & John on a trip to New York. While the stories are harmless enough and even comical, I wonder how I'll feel the day I walk in and she no longer recognizes me.

The view from my deck

I am sitting on my deck on a cool evening while Pat mows the grass. I've been paying bills online - it somehow seems a lot less like bill-paying when you're doing it on the deck with a nice breeze blowing and the pungent-sweet scent of freshly mown grass in your nostrils.

Now for the bird update. So far the past few weeks, we've spotted not only the usual residents (cardinals, sparrows, goldfinches, nuthatches, titmice and chickadees), but also the much rarer blue grosbeaks and indigo buntings. What a sight they make on the feeder alongside the brilliant yellow goldfinches and the vivid red cardinals! All three primary colors, right there. I enjoy them while they're here - last year they didn't seem to stay around much more than a month.

Under the feeder is a field mouse I've named Jerry, because he looks just like Jerry the mouse from the cartoons. He's brown with big ears and bright, dark eyes. He's worn a path from beneath the fence straight to the feeder pole and I like him because he keeps the ground clean.

I highly recommend birdwatching. It's less trouble than an aquarium and infinitely more entertaining than TV.