Some of the best conversations and most enlightening moments of my life have been in the last year when talking with individuals who have Alzheimer's disease, dementia or memory loss.
I want to tell you about Delores and the wonderful talk we had. At a gathering of dementia and memory loss clients and their immediate caregivers, I asked her how she was doing. Her eyes immediately brightened when she heard my question. She told me about how her house had been fixed up to make it easier to get around, and she gestured as she described the wider door openings and how much nicer the bathroom was now. I listened to what she was saying so that I knew how best to respond or a good follow-up question to keep the conversation going.
And her smile widened when she pulled out photos of her dogs and granddogs just like they were one of the grandkids. She pointed out their features and how much fun they were. I learned a lot about a dog breed I hadn't known much about before … mostly because I'm a cat person, though I love many types of dogs, too. I really enjoyed our conversation.
Life lesson: Don't ignore these individuals. They need to talk, listen, learn and teach like the rest of us.
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