photos

Mom and I spent a lot of time yesterday looking at old photos.  Because her vocabulary and clarity had really declined the past few months, I wanted to do a little testing, I wanted to force words out of her.

Her sentences are very short. Most of her words aren't found in a dictionary.
I find it funny that her "catch phrases", the ones she has always used to string together her conversations, are still there.  And these phrases still pop-out clearly between her jumbled phrases.

Yesterday, I was the one to tell Mom about her photos, I was the one to repeat her stories back to her. It was easy, as I have heard these stories over and over and over.  When a photo brought back to her a strong memory, her sentences and word recall were much clearer. 

We were looking at photos from my son's wedding. He was married on my Mother's front steps, at that house she loved so much. There was a photo of my two sons together; all so very grown up and handsome in their black suits. Mom points to the younger son and asks with clarity "What about him?"  She's asking me "Is he married yet?" I laughed and laughed, "No, Mom, he's not married."  I can't wait to tell him that his Grandmother was worried that he's not married.

As Jolene Brackey reminds us in Creating Moments of Joy  “They may not recognize you but they have not forgotten you.”