My grandmother is in the early stages of dementia. She's still mostly herself, but she has a lot of trouble remember dates and names. She recently had to be placed in an assisted living center and this weekend was the first time I got to see her new home.
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| My two grandmas and my Mother at my college graduation in 2008. My Mississippi grandmother is on the left. |
Overall the place was very nice. There were a lot of people her own age and she has a very nice roommate. Still it's hard to think that the woman that played countless games of Uno with me, took us to vacation bible school, and who made these huge lunch spreads every time we came to visit can't remember what day of the week it is.
I suppose that's life, but I can see that she's becoming less and less of the Mom-mom I've always known. She's forgotten everyone's last names and it's only a matter of time before she forgets the first names completely as well. There's not much I can do but be supportive and understanding of what she's going through, but the day is coming when my Mom-Mom isn't going to be Mom-Mom anymore.
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| Mom-Mom at my cousin's wedding in 2009. |
I'm going to make sure to visit Mom-Mom as much as possible. It's difficult when a drive over to Mississippi costs me over $100 in gas and I'm currently only working part-time, but some things are more important than money.
As far as the January Dress goes I've gone ahead and cut out all the fabric pieces for the bodice and underlined them with the ivory colored cotton. This evening I have class to attend until 10pm, but I'll try to assemble the bodice after I get home.
I used Tasia's tutorial (I just love her name. Tasia, it sounds so pretty) on underlining a bodice. If you haven't read any of Tasia's tutorials you are in for a treat. Her instructions are crystal clear and she creates the most beautiful dresses.
And I'm really stoaked to tell you that $25V now has over 1000 twitter followers! Thanks everyone for following me! I'll try to keep bringing you interesting sewing related tweets daily!
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3 comments:
It is very hard to think of our loved ones aging. I used to be the activity and social director of an assisted living community (specialised in dementia care) and the best advice I can give (not that you asked) is to get her to talk about her life as much as possible so you can help her with her memories by "cueing" her as she starts to forget things. By cueing her to remember the "good times" you will be able to bring her back to pleasant days. If you need any tips, resources, etc for this kind of thing, feel free to contact me and I can direct you to some great resources or ask the activity director of her community if they have a resource library (most places do and also support groups to help). When I was working, I would try to bring in my love of vintage by dressing like the ladies dressed when they were keeping their homes, raising their families, socialising, etc...they LOVED this. When you visit her, wear the vintage fashions you love and they will notice...you will get so many conversations started just by looking a certain way. You will not bleive how this will brighten days. I could go on and on...but again I know I am giving unsolicited advice, it is just something very near and dear to my heart.
Tiffany
Sorry to hear about your grandmother! I'm only 28 and have already lost all of my grandparents, so I feel for you.
It seems strange to go from that, to 'Thanks for the link to my tutorial' but thanks and I'm glad it was helpful.. looking forward to seeing the January dress all done up!
It was difficult to see my Dad go thru the same thing. Glad you have such sweet memories of her to past on to the next generation.
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