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Category Archives: Alzheimer’s Through the Looking Glass
Through the Looking Glass
A patch of four-leaf clover grew in the field outside my fourth grade classroom. Still years before ninth grade biology, before I understood genetics, I had noticed that four-leaf clovers grew together, spreading their luck to each other, so there would … Continue reading
Posted in Alzheimer's Through the Looking Glass, Uncategorized
Tagged Aliceheimer's, Alzheimer's, anthropology, Art House Co-op, artist, author, biology, Brooklyn Art Library, Dana Walrath, death, dementia, Four-leaf clover, Genetics, graphic narrative, King Solomon, memoir, memory, mirrors, narrative medicine, silver, Sketchbook Project, Sketchbook Project Brooklyn Art Library, Sophie's Choice, Through the looking glass
7 Comments
The Lobster Quadrille
the lobster quadrille My mother, Alice, practiced dying on a regular basis. “Get a shower curtain or something to put under me, would you?” In the middle of Alzheimer’s disease, she retained the bit of scientific knowledge that our bodies … Continue reading
Posted in Alzheimer's Through the Looking Glass, Uncategorized
Tagged Aliceheimer's, Alzheimer's, anthropology, Art House Co-op, artist, author, Brooklyn Art Library, Dana Walrath, death, dementia, Depends™, end of life, graphic narrative, Lewis Carroll, medicine, memoir, memory, narrative medicine, recognition, rite of passage, Sketchbook Project, social death, The Lobster Quadrille
13 Comments
Falling Slowly
Remember Dave? He was “Up” a tree back in March. Alice still sees him when she looks up. Right after Dave died in August of 2006, Alice explained her memory loss to me: “It’s like a curtain dropped and I can’t … Continue reading
Posted in Alzheimer's Through the Looking Glass, Uncategorized
Tagged Albany State Teacher's College, Alfred Russel Wallace, Alzheimer's, anthropology, Art House Co-op, biology, Brooklyn Art Library, color blind, Dana Walrath, Darwin, Genetics, graphic narrative, Malthus, memoir, memory, narrative medicine, Princples of Population, Sketchbook Project
4 Comments
Because You Are My Mother
“Dana, why are you so good to me?” I had just finished helping Alice get dressed. Picking out clothes to wear and getting them on was long since too hard. Now I stood behind her brushing her hair as she sat at her … Continue reading
Posted in Alzheimer's Through the Looking Glass, Uncategorized
Tagged Alzheimer's, anthropology, Art House Co-op, artist, author, Because you are my mother, Brooklyn Art Library, Dana Walrath, dementia, forgive, graphic narrative, memoir, memory, narrative medicine, Sketchbook Project, Who's your daddy?
15 Comments
Umbillicus
Umbilicus I was never close to my mother, not counting those first nine months and the six months that followed when she breastfed me unlike most mothers in the scientific 1960s. “We’re mammals! Of course I breastfed you,” she had … Continue reading
Posted in Alzheimer's Through the Looking Glass, Uncategorized
Tagged Alzheimer's, Art House Co-op, artist, author, Billy Collins, biology, Brooklyn Art Library, Dana Walrath, dementia, end of life, graphic narrative, memoir, memory, My Fair Lady, narrative medicine, Sketchbook Project, tenements, The Lanyard, United Nations
6 Comments
Light, Years, Later
Light, Years, Later “This meat is delicious,” Alice said as she scarfed down another big bite of fresh grilled steak. Alzheimer’s brought out her carnivorous streak. Peter and I accommodated. “I don’t dare ask where you got it.” Alice glanced … Continue reading
Posted in Alzheimer's Through the Looking Glass, Uncategorized
Tagged Aliceheimer's, Alzheimer's, anthropology, Art House Co-op, artist, Brooklyn Art Library, Dana Walrath, dementia, Einstein, graphic narrative, Mayo Clinic, memoir, memory, narrative medicine, plaques and tangles, Relativity theory, Sketchbook Project, World War II
6 Comments
Sundowning
In 1973, my parents moved up in life. Fifty-five vertical steps from the street to the front door gave us excellent cardiovascular health along with a spectacular view of the Hudson River and the Palisades cliffs beyond. From her bedroom, … Continue reading
Posted in Alzheimer's Through the Looking Glass, Uncategorized
Tagged Alzheimer's, Art House Co-op, artist, author, Brooklyn Art Library, Dana Walrath, dementia, Glinda, graphic narrative, Marion Dane Bauer, Mayo Clinic, memoir, memory, narrative medicine, On My Honor, Palisades, Sketchbook Project, Sundown Syndrome, Sundowning, Witches, Wizard of Oz
8 Comments
Sublimierung und Selbstverachtung
Sublimierung und selbstverachtung “Dana, can you come here?” Alice called from the sofa, her voice high and panicked, as though a bat might be circling overhead. The blanket that I had tucked loosely around her toes at the start of her nap … Continue reading
Fairy Pirates
Alice escapes the captivity of Alzheimer’s through story. Pirates, the ultimate hostage takers, often lend her a hand. I haven’t seen these pirates myself, but it’s clear they are pirates with a dashing Johnny Depp-ness, or the crimson glow of … Continue reading
Up
Up Alice often sees my father high in the branches of one of our maple trees. At first I wondered if he was “up a tree,” as in a difficult or embarrassing situation. Or was it Webster’s sense of the … Continue reading
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