Today was really a bittersweet day for me.
It was my last day as a caregiver for my friend Lynne. Even though I only do it one day a week, I have been doing it for 6 years.
We have been friends since college...that makes it 63 years of Life and being in each other's lives. Lynne is totally blind in one eye since birth and has only 20% vision in the other.
She is an amazing person. She was a nursery school and kindergarten special resource teacher, a wife and a mother of 2. We have gone to the same churches, had parties together and always enjoyed going out to eat. I'm 81 and she is 84...We are both a bit long in the tooth.
Lynne would be horrified if she knew how her life has declined because of Alzheimers. She doesn't know me 99.9% of the time, nor does she really know her daughter. She really can't do anything on her own any longer.
The time has come for me to not be over there every Friday. I can't lift her or care for her the way she needs it now. We still chat...me mostly...and try to talk about the good old days, which she enjoys but most of it is long gone now.
I am glad that Karen (her daughter) has nurses and more qualified attendants now but it is truly difficult.
This is my friend Lynne today .. in her wheelchair. At least she can be in her own home (for now)
I often wonder what's going on in her mind ... Her grasp of language is getting less too, though sometimes I can say .. Lynne tell me a story and she will say things that I believe are from her past.
We sing hymns and old gospel music all the time and she has got the melodies down pat..the words not so much.
So its One Day at a Time Sweet Jesus
Always be Grateful
Always be Kind