Browjan's Blog: The Long Good-Bye

There are many signs along the way in this journey of the long good bye. You can read about a lot of them at the Alzheimers Association web page at:

Ten Signs of Alzheimers Disease

Grandma Jan had a different bent on it all. Not only did she manifest the symptoms or signs, she also read the signs. One at time. Out loud. Wherever we went. Grandma would read the signs for us. She read road signs and billboards and hazard signs and company signs. Where it concerned Grandma, that old song was spot on:

Signs, Signs everywhere are signs…Do this, don’t do that...

She could read the signs.

“Mom, you don’t have to read all the signs out loud,” my husband would say.

“OK!” she’d reply and quickly follow with “Harris Teeter, Exit, Shell Gasoline”…

Signs were not the only things she read aloud. She also read books, pamphlets and magazines in the waiting room of dentists, doctors and hair salons.

“Learn about pree-scrip-tion VEE-A-Gra…”

“No not that one, Mom, Here read this magazine.”

“OK…PEOPLE magazine. April 14. What Jessica Simpson Craves. Jessica flaunts her new bikini body…”

All heads in the waiting room turn towards us. Grandma has an audience!

“Wait a minute,” I interrupted. “Here, try this one…” and quickly handed her one of those famous blue Bible story books found in every medical office.

“Adam and Eve in the garden of sin…”

Our visits to the doctor were a lot like reading day at the library. While we waited for the appointment, Grandma read to her patient listeners. (Well, they were patients after all!)

Once after she read the entire pamphlet on vein care – “Get a leg up on life and let your confidence show…” I found out the man sitting near us was suffering from migraine headaches. I felt really bad about that. If I had only known, we could have read the one entitled “Managing your Migraines through Acupuncture.”

Today I took my own Mama to the doctor. She doesn’t have the same tendency to read everything out loud. That may be because she can’t see much, but she does get a certain amount of satisfaction in reading one sign on our road in and out of town.

“Baskin Robbins – Duncan Donuts…well, well, well, Baskin Robins, that sure sounds good…that’s ice cream isn’t it? Duncan Donuts, well how about that. I haven’t had that in I don’t know how long.”

“Yesterday,” Dad replies. “Yesterday you had a donut, Evie.”

“I did not.”

“Yes you did. You had a glazed donut.”

“Well, I didn’t like it.”

“What do you mean you didn’t like it, you ate four of them!” Dad hasn’t learned the rule yet that says, “Never argue with your Alzheimer loved one.”

Our doctor appointment went well. Mom had been experiencing some nausea. Since this is a new doctor, he asked a lot of questions.

“How old are you?”

“I don’t know, George, how old am I?”

“She’s 82 years old,” answered Dad.

“What are your symptoms?”

“My what?”

“Your symptoms, how have you been feeling?”

“I don’t know, George what are my symptoms?”

“Well, she’s been throwing up,” answered my Dad.

“Do you have any abdominal pain?”

“I don’t know, George, do I have any abdominal pain?”

“Now, Evie, how do I know if your stomach hurts. You need to answer the doctor.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Mom concludes.

“Well, yes she does, she moans and groans like she is having abdominal pain,” hollers Dad. “And she’s hard of hearing!”

The new doctor is very even tempered, patient. A sign of a good doctor.

“Well, you look fine to me. I don’t see any signs of dehydration…”

Mom perked right up after that. If the doctor said she wasn’t sick then she wasn’t sick. We got in the car and started heading home.

Mom sat quietly in the back until we turned onto main road.

“I sure am hungry,” she said suddenly. “Maybe we should stop and get something to eat. Baskin Robbin – that’s ice cream isn’t it? Duncan Donuts…well how about that…”

An insatiable appetite for sweets. That’s just another one of those signs along the way.

Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Mark well the path by which you came…
Jeremiah 31:21