I FORGET PROJECT
The Goal:
To develop a theatre performance-piece around the subject of Alzheimer's Disease based on the experiences of my Grandmother Eileen and her mother Ruth who both suffered from Alzheimer's Disease, and mine and my Mom's shared fear of one day succumbing to its grasp, in order to answer questions about why we value memory.
The Tasks:
- Volunteer weekly with Alzheimer's Disease Care and Support Organizations
- Increase my understanding of the disease through research and interviews
- Create a Memory Journal, as an experiment to see how many personal memories of my life I can record in one year
- Begin writing and workshopping a theatre performance
- Maintain a weekly blog to share my discoveries and questions, and meet other people who are trying to understand this disease
I'm thrilled to embark on this project and hope that it will last beyond the usual six to eight week life expectancy of most New Year's Resolutions. If nothing else, I want to remember my exploration of memory and Alzheimer's Disease, and I will start by writing it down.
Happy New Year!
With love and best wishes on
ReplyDeletethis valuable endeavor
Megan! This is so awesome. What a great project! You are an inspiration.
ReplyDeletePatrick
fantastic idea Megan! My grandma is currently succumbing to dementia,not Alzheimer's,but close enough. I look forward to reading about the project as it comes along. And even though I'm on the opposite side of the country, let me know if there is anything I can do to help!
ReplyDeleteGreat and worthwhile project Megan, I wish you good luck and will support you in whatever way I can. A true story that comes to mind is when Cindy and Eileen came to visit us while Nana was living with us. Eileen was very happy to arrive and talked to us all for a couple of hours and they she said she was ready to go home. When we told her home in Sunnyvale California was over 800 miles away she insisted that was not the case and that if we just called her dad (who was deceased) that he would come and pick her up. After a little while she said she was going for a walk and proceeded to go up to our neighbors front doors, get their attention, and then ask them to take her home. Cindy & mom had to convince her to come back to our house and we all tried to communicate the reality of the situation. Unfortunately she could not be persuaded to stay for a few days before going home and they returned to sunnyvale on the next available flight. Perhaps my summary of that visit will be enhanced by Cindy and Dalice with more details and in context of the timeline of Eileen's progression with the disease. I thought a great deal of Eileen and it was very sad/difficult to see her this way because she was always so vibrant, intelligent, and fun to talk with about everything. I have very warm loving memories of her as she was always very kind and loving to me.
ReplyDeletePretty amazing Megan. I have never been a memory keeper in terms of journals, photos, etc. Your project is a reminder to me to "value memory" as you put it. Best wishes!
ReplyDeleteJulie
Making the decision to put mom in a care facilit was one of the most gut wrenching experiences of my life even though I was a secondary person in the process. This was an on-going deliberative process since the time we realized she had Alzheimer's. Aunt Cindy and I had many many tough conversations about under what circumstances we would have to put her in a facility. Aunt Cindy had to be the one to sign on the dotted line and leave her there and I know the indescribable anguish she went through over the whole thing, then and forever after. To this day we still talk about that and wonder did we do the right thing. It was worse than making tough decisions as a parent. It ultimately comes down to an issue of safety, and maybe we put her in there too soon or not soon enough. She could have set the house on fire, gotten hit by a car, injured or any number of situations. The guilt stays with me always. Thanks for letting me share.
ReplyDeleteI read your next entry after our phone conversation and realized how much I miss my mom and that she and Nana are the two other people on Earth who know how proud of you I am for doing just such a thing. I also told a few people at work and they thought it was a great idea.
ReplyDelete