Saturday, March 28, 2009

Drama

Elizabeth has become quite the drama queen these days in that her sensory perceptions are exaggerated to the point of total imagination. Today I dropped the dog's stainless steel water bucket on the outdoor patio. Since it was a 70-degree day, the patio door was open, and the sound of the clanging bucket was loud even in the kitchen. So loud that Elizabeth was certain it hit her on the head. She clasped her head in her hands and cried out that she'd been hit by something. "That hurt," she said repeatedly until I came in the kitchen and told her the pot hit the floor and not her head. She seemed relieved and went about her task of reading the newspaper.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

It's Been A While

It’s been a long time since I have blogged about my sister and that is not because she hasn’t provided me with material. It is simply that I have had my own life struggles of late, and because I have been trying to get ALL my blogs updated. I am back in the swing of it all now, though … so here we go!

Back-tracking to the holidays (2008), I can tell you that this one went by Lizzie like a bird in flight. This was the first year ever that she did not get into the planning and anticipation of the season. She did not notice that I did not decorate the house this year (a first for me) with anything other than a small 4-ft. tree I found at Costco that is decorated, has lights, and is flocked in a pretty pot. She did not want to see any of the few Christmas cards we received. She had no interest in preparing for Santa in any way, shape or form; nor did she want me to read the story of our Lord’s birth from the Book of Luke. When Christmas morning and time to open gifts arrived, she just looked at them and walked away. I asked myself: did she forget about how to do Christmas; or is this a reflection of the personality-change-thing common to AD patients?

As I mentioned in a post on my Friendships BLOG, I decided to do Christmas differently this year, and I am so glad I did so! Off with the old traditions and on with the new! We went to our cousins’ house on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day we DID continue with the established day with our dear friends the Clarks and company! Liz kept saying, “It can’t be Christmas. It’s not December yet.”

It should be no wonder to anyone why December 26th is one of my most favorite days of the year. It became so when Christmas was just not as happy as it used to be after losing our parents. Then my marriage ended and no one was around to help me make it special for Lizzie. And now she doesn’t care any more. I often wonder if a year will come when I look forward to the holidays again.

Sunday, March 15, 2009