Abe Hoffman and his wife Helen live on separate floors of an assisted living facility. Helen has Alzheimer’s disease. Every day at 4 pm they have a ‘date’. Abe tells her about their life together and they sing. This is their story…

An NBC report on the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project (APP) by the NORAZ Poets group in Arizona. Using classical poems such as Longfellow’s The Arrow, the poetry readings are designed to stimulate brain activity. There are 19 facilities in Arizona participating in this project and the response has been positive.

NORAZ Poets see the Arizona Poetry Project as ‘…not the type of poetry reading that takes place from a podium. The APP is about making contact with people who have very little physical contact in their lives. We recite the poems directly to the patients, often holding their hands. It …read more

  As I read Kristen King’s post, Traditional Summer Refreshment: Homemade Iced Tea, at Lively Women, and her reminiscenses of her mother making this brew, I also recalled my mom making homemade refreshing beverages on hot summer days.  I grew up on a farm, long enough ago that soda pop was a rare treat. 
So Mother made our refreshments.  These consisted of iced tea, lemonade, and mint tea.  Sometimes she combined the tea and lemon juice, then added a spring of mint.  The mint grew along the brook that ran behind our farmhouse and across the pasture.  We children were assigned the task …read more

Remember Joseph Voight, the 11 year old who had written a book about his grandmother and Alzheimer’s disease. Well, it looks like good things are happening for him. Since the last post I wrote about hime, he has been interviewed by local TV networks, CNN, and various newspapers.
He has also obtained a book contract with DNA Press LLC, a non-fiction publishing company based in Eagleville, PA.
DNA Press books are distributed through many channels, including Amazon.com, so keep a look out for Joseph’s book in the near future.
Meanwhile, have a look at this video interview with him.

So many people consider caring for an Alzheimer’s patient a hopeless situation, one filled with saddness and dispair.  Frequently whatever is written or filmed contains the aura of hopelessness. 
I’m glad there’s an increasing awareness of Alzheimer’s and it’s devastation to family members, victims, and society.  However, I like people to realize that, since we can’t, at this point in time, stop or ignore Alzheimer’s, it’s possible to find joy…both for the patient and yourself.
“Joy!” you say.  “She’s nuts!” 
It was frustrating, it was tiring, it was often sad caring for Mother and Auntie.  However, we did experience laughter and joy.  We all …read more

Here’s a video well worth watching. Filmed by the grandson of an Alzheimer’s patient, it show the face of Alzheimer’s disease in a humorous, factual, and heart touching way.

My mom stood in the doorway shuffling her feet but not moving.  She looked at me and asked, “What do I do?” 
I touched her right leg and answered, “Move this leg.”
“Oh,” she remarked, then lifted her foot.  “Like this.”  And she started walking across the room.
I’d often wondered, as Mother gradually lost her capabilities, if her brain was shrinking or ceasing to communicate to her.  Eventually she couldn’t remember how to walk.  From asking what to do, then walking, she shuffled.  She go and stop, go and stop. And then never go again.  This was the course with other movements and …read more