Laura, her mom and sister
Thank you everyone for so many words of encouragement for our family caregivers! We continue honoring caregivers during National Caregivers Month with Laura’s story. She and her younger sister are living the lives of young 20-somethings, while trying to give their dad a break from caring full time for their mom. Remember, you can post a tribute to the caregiver in your life at www.alz.org/nadam.
I officially found out about two years ago (November of 2010) that my mother had Alzheimer’s disease. She was 56. I was 24. Of course, by that point the changes were drastic enough that my suspicions were already quite high and, more than anything, I was relieved to have a solid explanation.
It was about 2-3 years prior, during my last year of college, that I had first started noticing that my mom seemed to be forgetting large chunks of our regular telephone conversations. She had always been deeply involved in my life, so the fact that she seemed to be disregarding the things I talked to her about was completely out of character for her. Being a worrier, my first horrified thought was that she was developing Alzheimer’s disease, but the friends I confided in were quick to assure me that she was too young and that there was a myriad different explanations for her minor memory lapses. Continue reading “National Caregivers Month: At 26, Laura is too young for “Yomamma Care”” »
