The Blessings of Dementia

I started this post over four years ago while I was watching my mother slip away. It was going to be titled “The Long Good-bye” or “How my Mother Disappeared” or “How I Lost my Mother.” Something to infer that she was still alive, but no longer the mother that had raised me, sent emails [...]

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It’s Father’s Day. A year ago today I was with my parents in their condo, helping out with the parts of their lives that were becoming more difficult. . . cooking, cleaning, paying bills, driving. We had gone to church, of course. It was a rare time when my parents didn’t go to church on [...]

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I sit at my mom’s sewing machine. I wonder how long it has been since she used it. A year? Two years? I’m trying to figure out how to thread it. How to set the stitch length. I can’t believe that I am using her machine to modify a pair of her slacks so that [...]

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“Where am I?” My mother turns her head towards me, eyes glazed over. “You’re in the University Hospital in Saskatoon.” “Why am I here?” “You fell and broke your hip.” “Why can’t I get up and go home?” “Well, Mom. You can’t actually walk.” “Why not?” “Because they operated on you. You have a new [...]

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