124 | March• 2018
WAITING FOR ALZHEIMER’S
this, looking all the time, watching –
oh you repeated that two times, you
repeated that three times. I don’t like
it.” Another woman said: “He probably
doesn’t like it, either.”
The moderator brought up the or-
ganisation’s medical alert programme.
Wandering is common with Alzheim-
er’s. It typically happens if there is a
disruption in one’s routine. So the or-
ganisation recommends everyone get
an identification bracelet.
Next the moderator said she wantedto try an exercise. She handed every-
one two sheets of paper. Each con-
tained a star drawn in double lines.
She asked them to draw a line be-
tween those double lines, tracing the
outline of the star. Once they finished,
she asked how they felt about the
experience.
Back came their answers: “Boring.”
“Annoyance.”
She then handed everyone a small
mirror. Now, on the second sheet, she
wanted them to position the mirror so
they could see the star in the reflec-
tion. Then to trace the star again while
looking only in the mirror. The point
was to let them experience a taste ofCertainly, the photography was a
salve. When she immersed herself in
it, the world around her seemed to re-
lax. The Alzheimer’s felt oddly absent,
not able to touch her. With her birds,
there was no need to scrabble for the
right word. She didn’t have to talk to
them. “For me, the disease doesn’t ex-
ist when I’m taking pictures,” she said.
The birds were wonderful. But were
they enough? She didn’t think so, but
hadn’t yet imagined what could be.
The CaringKind caregiver workshop
began in the training room. There
were eight participants, Jim Taylor
among them.
The moderator told the participants
that eventually they would need sup-
port, too. “You can only bend so
far before you break,” she said. She
invited sharing. Driving came up.
A woman said she got nervous when
her husband almost ran a red light
and stopped only because she yelled.
Afterwards, she confiscated his keys.
He got furious. She relented. They
were still hashing it out.
One frustrated woman, caring for
her husband, said with a quaver in her
voice: “You’re left on your own with
WITHHERBIRDS,THEREWASNONEED
TO SCRABBLE FOR THE RIGHT WORD.
SH E DI DN’T H AV E TO TA LK TO T H EM