10.17.2011

Monday "Memories" With My Mom

     Things have been going pretty well for my mom.  For the first time, I went a full week without visiting her.  I call her every day, but me, my house, and my kids need my attention. 
     Last Thursday, the American House where my mom lives was having a Grand Re-Opening Party to celebrate the completion of their major renovations that have taken place.  I was really looking forward to going with one of my kids and my mom.  I looked at it as a kind of celebration of her moving in.  In the end, my husband ended up being out of town and Kristin had a last minute (rain makeup) soccer game scheduled on the other side of town.  Ultimately, I knew I couldn't be at both places at the same time.  I called my mom to remind/retell her about the party.  It was 4 pm and she already had her pajamas on and remembered nothing of the party. She said it was ok, she did not want to get dressed again and go.  Another reminder that some things are much more "important" to me than they actually are to my mom.  She was content right where she was.  Had she gone, I know she would have loved it...but when you don't know and remember what you are missing -- you don't miss it!


    No calls from the Medical Team this week.  Thumbs up on that.  However, hanging over my head is the fact that me and my brother still need to focus some time and energy into cleaning out my mom's condo -- a huge task as my mom saved everything.  We have taken some baby steps, but there is more work to do.
     In the meantime, I thought I would share some very "telling" statistics that came to me by email recenty about Alzheimer's Disease.
  • There are more than five million Americans living with Alzheimer’s and nearly 15 million caregivers for those with the disease.
  • Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the country, and the only cause of death among the top 10 that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.
  • Death rates have declined for most major diseases while deaths from Alzheimer’s disease have risen 66 percent during the same period.
     After six weeks of my mom moving out, I am trying to take this as a sign and get back to the things I want to do and that I enjoy...  As my blog "labels" show so glaringly, I could use some balance in my life again.  Perhaps less "Mom" and more "Cindy", "Kids", "Husband" and "Dog" labels.  (Not necessarily in that order...LOL!!!)
     A little calm is good!


1 comment:

Sarah said...

I am glad to hear things are going well!