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.