I’ve always loved the photo on the left.  It was taken on my baptism day in 1958.  Mom looked so happy.

Fast forward 52 years.  The photo on the right was taken on Mom’s 75th birthday.

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What do I think about on Mother’s Day? I think about Alzheimer’s Disease.

 Last year, I wrote THIS post about my Mom.  She has Alzheimer’s Disease and no longer knows who I am, or recalls anything about her life.  She doesn’t communicate at all.  She just sits in her wheelchair and the world around her goes by.  I can’t even say she stares off into space; she just has en emptiness in her eyes.  I can’t really say anything better than I did last year, so I hope you’ll just take a moment to read that post.

I do have updates to the post, though.  The lost experiences keep adding up.  Since I wrote that post last year, “Wish I Could Say Happy Mother’s Day,” my son and Mom’s only grandson found real happiness and married a wonderful person.  They are now expecting what will be Mom’s first great-grandchild.  My son will also get his Master’s Degree this fall; another milestone she’ll miss.

My daughter, and Mom’s first grandchild, started her own business a year and a half ago, and is awesomely successful.  Mom would be proud not only of Geben Communication’s success, but also my daughter’s focus on Heart of Haiti, helping earthquake victims get back on their feet and supporting themselves through their crafts.  My daughter and son-in-law recently bought their first house, another event that Mom would have been just tickled about.

My niece, my brother’s daughter, graduated from high school last year.  Mom used to take care of her when she was a pre-schooler.  Mom would have been gushing pride to see her successfully graduate and now nearly finished with her first year of college.

The cruelty of Alzheimer’s is that Mom is alive and strong, but is completely unaware of what is happening around her.  Mom can’t help us celebrate these milestones.  As we do, though, we include Mom in our thoughts, thinking of what might have been.

If you can help fight Alzheimer’s by supporting research into this cruel disease, please click HERE

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(Originally posted Mother’s Day 2011.)