fading away

I didn't watch much of the Grammies Sunday night, but I did stay alert listening for them to announce Kris Kristofferson's appearance, because he was to be honored.  Chatting on Facebook as I am wont to do, I mentioned Kris; that's when a friend told me that Kris has something like Alzheimer's.   

Memory loss was on my mind already; last week Cliff, his sister, and I went to visit their Aunt Gertrude, the lady in the middle.  She has asthma, and is in and out of the hospital pretty frequently, but her mind is sharp.  Aunt Lois, her sister, was also there for the day.  She has Alzheimer's.  There's a couple buying her home, living there and caring for her.  Aunt Gertrude likes to give them a day off each week, so they bring Lois to her house.  


She has no memory of us.  Cliff asked about one of her boys, and she said, "Do you know him?"  
"Yes," Cliff answered, "I used to play with him when we were kids.  We used to go to your house every year for Thanksgiving."

She just looked confused.  Aunt Gert says she dreads the day when Lois no longer recognizes her.  

This is not a flattering picture of Cliff, but my blog needs this picture of them conversing

We introduced ourselves to her several times throughout the day.  She seemed to enjoy visiting with us, anyhow.  
Yesterday we got a note from Aunt Gertrude.  She wrote, "(After we left) Lois wanted to know who those people were.  She said 'they acted like they know me.  Who was that man that sat by me?  He sure was a talker!'" 
"That gave us something to talk about," Aunt Gertrude continued, "even if it was reruns."  

There's no way of knowing which of us will end up in the same condition.  If it turns out to be me, I certainly wouldn't want to know ahead of time.  I try not to think about it too much.