tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759913671101666257.post5172603196312790990..comments2023-05-24T06:02:06.480-05:00Comments on Chuck's Chatter: The Cruelty of Alzheimer'sChuck Doswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03099345055614900157noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759913671101666257.post-24036138264014476702012-09-29T09:42:45.518-05:002012-09-29T09:42:45.518-05:00Woke up this morning thinking about him. Thanks f...Woke up this morning thinking about him. Thanks for posting an update, Chuck. Such a cruel disease, indeed. Tim Samarasnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759913671101666257.post-1444873989877475492012-09-25T13:59:46.531-05:002012-09-25T13:59:46.531-05:00The following comment was sent by Brian Curran:
C...The following comment was sent by Brian Curran:<br /><br />Chuck, as long as his enthusiasm and joy live within us, he's not truly gone. I treasure his wisdom and vision in so many ways! As long as his passion resonates inside us, he is still here, mind body and soul intact. The spirit carries on.Chuck Doswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03099345055614900157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759913671101666257.post-77699888090056696252012-09-25T11:49:42.301-05:002012-09-25T11:49:42.301-05:00You have my empathy, Dr. Doswell. When I was nine ...You have my empathy, Dr. Doswell. When I was nine I lost my fraternal grandmother to Alzheimer's Disease. I don't have as many memories of her as I do my maternal grandmother (who is still with us), but I do have a few that I can share.<br />We called her Gran Gran.<br />My earliest memories of Gran Gran are of her living with my Aunt Libbie (my father's younger sister).<br />I recall her staying at our house at least once, sleeping in my older sister's bed.<br />I recall once thinking the way she said something was funny, at what I believe was a family get-together.<br />I don't necessarily remember it, but there is a picture of her at my fourth birthday party, with my four-year-old self smiling at her in the background.<br />She spent her final years in convalescent home. I remember my family and I visiting her many times in those years. I vaguely remember her being rather incoherent, but I am told that she would call me "Tommy" while we are there. Now, <i>Tommy</i> is what my dad goes by. Perhaps she thought I was my dad [when he was a kid], I don't know.<br />I have heard that shortly before her passing away, I think even the day of, Gran Gran spoke coherently one last time. This was to my Aunt Libbie and my Aunt Katkat (Dad's youngest sister). I believe she told them to "give Mama a hug," or something like that.<br />My last memories of her were a few days before she died and the wake afterwards. My parents and I went to visit her in the hospital. She was not awake, and occasionally she would make a sound; but I don't think she woke up at all while we were there.<br />I wasn't at the funeral for reasons I cannot remember. My parents probably did not feel I was mature enough to go to one. I was, however, at the wake. I do remember one of my older cousins crying by her coffin.<br />I remember neither crying nor being devastated when she died, having believed that she was in a better place. My fourth grade teacher commended me for having a good attitude about it.<br />These are the memories I hang on to - I wish could have gotten to know her more before she passed away. Gran Gran was a sweet and beautiful lady.Garrett Forneanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759913671101666257.post-73953817947057509282012-09-25T11:27:06.409-05:002012-09-25T11:27:06.409-05:00Chuck, as long as his enthusiasm and joy live with...Chuck, as long as his enthusiasm and joy live within us, he's not truly gone. I treasure his wisdom and vision in so many ways! As long as his passion resonates inside us, he is still here, mind body and soul intact. The spirit carries on.<br /><br />bcAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759913671101666257.post-81698720319601145582012-09-24T23:35:59.775-05:002012-09-24T23:35:59.775-05:00I hadn't happened to look at your BLOG in a fe...I hadn't happened to look at your BLOG in a few weeks, but some inner twinge compelled me specifically to seek it out today. Despite the awful (if not surprising) news, I'm glad you posted this report. Thanks. I know of whom you write, and his decline since I saw him last year is deeply saddening. <br /><br />As gut-wrenching as it must have been to go unrecognized, you alluded to one highly appropriate way to approach this situation: to cherish the good times and memories we did have with him before this happened. That is his personal legacy, which lives on far beyond his own recollection of it. Nothing can take away his professional and educational legacies either. The knowledge and insights he dispensed to his peers, students and audiences enriched us all beyond measure, as did the passion he exuded in doing so. Maybe he doesn't know anymore about the influences he has had on so many people; but that doesn't change the truth of those influences. <br /><br />All of us who have known, admired and tried to emulate his approaches to that work and hobby will keep ablaze the torches he lit, even as this insidious disease snuffs out his own flame. It's the least we could do to honor his contributions.<br /><br />From here on out, I wish, hope and pray for a minimum of physical suffering, as has been the case with my much older mom (who doesn't recognize me anymore and probably hasn't for a few years, due to a different and unrelated form of dementia). They may be gone in many respects, living in an increasingly distant world of instantaneous sensation and continual unfamiliarity; but parts of them really do live on in those of us who knew them through many more years of full lucidity. It's natural and proper to grieve what's gone, but don't forget to celebrate his legacy too. <br />Roger Edwardshttp://skypix.wsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759913671101666257.post-51388627849957045592012-09-23T16:59:47.635-05:002012-09-23T16:59:47.635-05:00Lak,
Unless I'm mistaken, the person of whom ...Lak,<br /><br />Unless I'm mistaken, the person of whom you speak was not the subject of this essay. The issue is the loss of capabilities, not so much the loss of memories, per se. Overall, memory powers those capabilities.Chuck Doswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03099345055614900157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759913671101666257.post-64307278610609124802012-09-23T13:10:28.643-05:002012-09-23T13:10:28.643-05:00When I saw him last, our mutual friend had forgott...When I saw him last, our mutual friend had forgotten which country I was from, but remembered with fondness my parents' visit to his home. So, he may have forgotten your name, but probably still has memories of things he did with you -- it's just that those memories are non-specific.<br />Lakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16177723973206020679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759913671101666257.post-71473597450535337392012-09-22T19:49:21.182-05:002012-09-22T19:49:21.182-05:00Really sorry to hear about your friend Chuck. Our ...Really sorry to hear about your friend Chuck. Our bodies may fail us but as long as we have our minds we are intact. Sadly, the opposite is not true.Bob Zamorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16051790811009958287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759913671101666257.post-38783437184264194812012-09-22T19:46:40.491-05:002012-09-22T19:46:40.491-05:00I am really sorry to hear about your friend Chuck....I am really sorry to hear about your friend Chuck. Our bodies may fail us but as long as we have our minds we are intact. Sadly, the opposite is not true.Bob Zamorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16051790811009958287noreply@blogger.com