Alzheimer's Disease has taken a lot of things away from my Mom. It's taken away her ability to walk. When she speaks, we often don't understand what she's saying. She has trouble focusing a lot of the time which leads me to believe that her vision has been compromised. She has difficulty using her arms for anything but the most simple of tasks. Some days it seems like Mom isn't even in the room with us, when she obviously is. With all of these things fading away, you might wonder what's left. I'll tell you what's left....
Mom. The one thing that Alzheimer's has not been able to rob her of is her sense of humour and that may be her greatest character trait. It's still there. In many ways it's improved, although Mom historically loved a good hysterical laugh. Mom communicates with facial gestures as much as anything these days. Her face reads like a book, and she's a master of comic timing. Yesterday she spent the entire two hours of my visit hamming it up and laughing.
The highlight of yesterday's visit was 'the Pop-eye'. I've never been able to capture it on video until yesterday, thank goodness. The Pop-eye is a rare gesture, used sparingly. Julian named the gesture 'the Pop-eye' because, well, just watch a Pop-eye cartoon and you'll know.
Aw, hell, I know you'll never watch a Pop-eye cartoon. Here, take a look at this...tell me you can't see the similarities!
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