Monday, 19 July 2010
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Sunday, 25 October 2009
The Nicer Side Of Alzheimers.
Current mood:
blessed Category: Life
As some of you know my mum was diagnosed last September with Alzheimers. It's been a really tough adjustment period but her 5 kids are getting the hang of her needs and dealing with the sad reality of the illness and how it affects both my mums and our lives. And we ARE SO GOOD at staying positive and finding the good in amongst the disturbing day to day sadness and worry for her well being. ANYWAY! I'm so pleased with today's occurrence I HAD to share. I hope you don't mind.
My mum lived a very busy life working incredibly hard 6 days a week to raise 5 kids. It wasn't easy at times and I think I had two holidays growing up...the same number as my mum. ANYWAY...travelling became an obsession (hence my job as Cabin Crew) and to my delight and to my mums delight she got to see a bit of the world coming on trips with me to such places as China, Mexico, South Africa, Canada, America and so on. ( One of her favourites was San Francisco depsite ending up in hospital there and extending our 5 day visit there to 10 days for all the wrong reasons! She has caused concern on more occasions than the present, God bless her!) And so, she became the intrepid traveller after a lifetime of working hard to raise 5 kids.
These days she doesn't travel. Health issues prevent this. Infact, she is confined at home and depends very much on the 5 kids she worked so admirably hard in raising. We kids communicate constantly with each other staying on top of her latest "activities". She lives very much in an imaginery world and we need to pay close attention to everything to be sure what's real
and what isn't.
SO...I arrive home from a trip today and call her to check on her. "I've won £100" she says. (I have to wonder if she has.) It only turns out that she bought a raffle ticket for a balloon race to support The Accord Hospice and today she received a letter informing her that her balloon released near Glasgow in Scotland was found tagged in Ireland and was officially announced as the balloon having travelled the furthest...lol. I sent a message out to all the family that given mum's track record for becoming a world traveller ( her nick name became Helen "I'll come too" Williams! ), I was not surprised her balloon did the travelling for her now and travelled the furthest!
The balloon race raised £5,000 for The Accord Hospice :)
