Cherishi BY VICKI E. DAVIS
Vicki (back left) and her mom (front left) visiting with Santa and Mrs. Claus (Jack and Jan Turk of Douglasville). Vicki, right, with her mother, Ann.
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AROUND ACWORTH | December 2021
In 2010, at the age of 78, my mother, Ann Graves, realized she was experiencing short-term memory loss. After extensive testing, she was diagnosed with mild/moderate Alzheimer’s disease - the dreaded A word. Overnight, Alzheimer’s became part of our family’s vocabulary. Today, more than 6 million Americans are living with this debilitating disease of the brain, with more than 11 million Americans providing unpaid care for a loved one living with Alzheimer’s or other dementias, according to ALZ.org. Mom began the medications available hoping to stabilize the progression of dementia. The following two years she continued to live alone, with a thoughtful neighbor next door checking on her frequently and my weekly visits. Her life was full as she enjoyed mall walking, lunches with her siblings, church attendance and her weekly hair appointment. In September 2012, the anesthesia during eye surgery dramatically progressed Mom’s dementia. With her vision loss and increased cognitive impairment, she could no longer drive or live alone. As Mom’s primary caregiver, I gathered information from “The 36Hour Day” book by Peter V. Rabins and Nancy L. Mace, and the Alzheimer’s Association website, on how to best help her. In spite of praying for the best and preparing for the worst, I was still blindsided by the unexpected. One hot summer day I left Mom in the car with the engine and air conditioner running while I ran into a store just a few feet away. The errand took longer than intended and when I returned, she was gone. I frantically searched the parking lot screaming for her. She had walked to the other end of the shopping center looking for me. What had I done? What if she had fallen onto the hot pavement? What if she had been hit by a car? Overwhelmed with guilt, I hugged her and cried, asking her to forgive me. Never again would I be so careless. The milestones one may experience with a terminal illness that afflicts the
