About 100 years has passed since Dr. Alois Alzheimer
discovered Alzheimer-type dementia. So we don’t have enough evidence to prove a
relation between Alzheimer's disease and heredity. One hundred years is too short a
period to prove it. However, I have many relatives who have Alzheimer's disease on my mother’s
side. My dear friends, please treat me gently if I develop Alzheimer's disease in the future.
For now, gentle treatment is the only remedy for this disease.
My grandmother’s
sister, my grand aunt, had no children. Her husband had passed away, so she
lived alone. When I found out she had Alzheimer's disease, I decided to take care of
her. It took one and a half hours to travel from my house to the grand aunt’s
house. I used to call her every morning, visit her every week and take her to
the hospital every month. I did this for a few years until she passed away. I
organized her funeral and was the chief mourner.
One day a
strange thing happened when I visited her.
I usually wear worn-out casual clothes, but
on that day I needed to visit my grand aunt’s house from my work place directly,
so I was wearing a business suit. As usual, my grand aunt and I walked to the
hospital together, but that day many neighbors said hello to my grand aunt.
“Madam, where are
you going?”
“Madam, how are
you doing?”
I was surprised
because usually no one said hello to us. I felt these voices were nervous. Like
my mother, my grand aunt had Alzheimer's
disease but she could communicate. So I asked her:
“Why did the
neighbors say hello to us today?”
She immediately
answered.
“Because you’re
wearing clothes like that!”
I assumed I took care of her alone. Actually
the neighbors realized she had dementia and kept an eye on her silently.
Furthermore, it was well known that a relative who always wore worn-out clothes
visited and took care of her every week. That meant me. I was famous, but that
day the neighbors assumed that a stranger wearing a business suit was trying to
take her somewhere for a bad purpose. It was an emergency! They thought they
had to protect her by saying hello to her.
At her funeral, I gave a speech about this
incident, expressing my appreciation of the efforts of the neighbors. After the
funeral, a participant came up and said to me.
“I am the one who
said hello to her. Yes, as you said, I assumed you were a bad stranger. Sorry
about that.”
I doubt all
bad people wear business suits these days? People who wear a business suit!
What kind of bad things are you doing?
Picture: xiangtao
Picture: xiangtao
