This is my Mom Carol. She was beautiful and she was kind. 
Years ago, Carol's mind began to kind of just...wander off. It happened slowly. After a while she couldn't operate a coffee machine, she couldn't drive, she couldn't do a whole lot of very simple things. But denial overshadowed Carol's first diagnosis of Dementia in 1998. Finally, in March 2001, the unavoidable diagnosis…Early Onset Alzheimer's. I enrolled in a four year Masters program in Traditional Chinese Medicine and my Dad and I settled in for the slow, sad decline.
We weathered a variety of horrors. Never mind the washing, the dressing, the feeding, and the incontinence, the other stuff...the hallucinations, fear and sadness...that was hard. But then again, Carol was also at times amazing and sweet, patient and wise. She really taught me a lot. She taught me patience, to be gentle, to listen and to be still in the face of illness.
I am grateful for the time I had taking care of my Mother. The experience continues to enrich my life as a healer and as a person.
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