120 | March• 2018
WAITING FOR ALZHEIMER’S
cognitive reserve, the mental capabil-
ities that accumulate over a lifetime.
She felt she had plenty of that – at least
she hoped so.
Her doctor put her on Aricept, a
drug designed to improve cognitive
performance. It seemed to sharpen
her thinking, especially in the morn-
ing, but she couldn’t really gauge how
much good it did.
Her belief system was optimism.
She never cried. Depression, she
knew, would lead her down alleys she
didn’t want to visit. Instead, the dis-
ease made her hungry for living. She
vowed to plunge ahead and accelerate
her longtime interest in photography.
See friends more. She aimed to live
the most fulfilling days she could at
what seemed the bleakest possible
time.
Jim drew up a to-do
list, a way to get things
started. When to tell
the kids and the grand-
kids. How long to keep
two homes. Advancing
care need. End-of-life
decisions.
Geri was advised not
to tell people of her
condition. Friends will
fall away from you, she
was told. It was as if
there were something
illicit about contracting
Alzheimer’s. The Taylors
wanted no part of that.
“It was my decision to
let the disease be alive in my life,” Geri
said. “You don’t have to just throw in
the towel.”
They waited six months. She
wanted time to try on her new life,
so she could share the news without
an overflow of emotion. Then in the
summer of 2013, she told the children.
They were not surprised. They had
detected glitches in her memory, and
now they knew their origin. She post-
poned informing the grandchildren
and moved on to other relatives and
friends. Some accepted the news, oth-
ers quibbled, the glare of the truth too
bright. Are you sure ... You don’t seem
... I didn’t notice ... Some practically
tried to talk her out of it.
Others could hardly see it. She
knew better. She was slipping, the
disease whittling away at her. CertainGeriandJimTaylorontheirweddingdayin1993.
Withthemaretheirchildren.Fromleft:MarkTaylor,
Heidi Taylor, Amy Taylor and Lloyd WidmerPHOTO COURTESY GERI AND JIM TAYLOR