Maria Shriver

Sarah L. White

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Blog Posts

• January 12, 2012

  Alzheimer's and Caregiving

  

  Maps to the Treasure: A Story of Alzheimer’s Disease

  In May of 2010 I lost my grandmother to complications of Alzheimer ’s disease. Along with the grief I felt watching my grandmother struggle with her memory loss, I also grieved for my mother as I watched her loose her mother to this heart wrenching illness.

  Perhaps the most painful grief I felt was watching my own children and my sister’s children slowly loose the great grandmother who had rocked and cared for all of them throughout their short lives. The amazing woman who once knew everything about them slowly lost her ability to recall their names and who they belonged to…but she never forgot them.

  Sitting in her chair in the living room she would ask about them constantly. She would describe them with such loving words, “the adorable little boy with blue eyes,” or “that beautiful little girl with brown hair.” Alzheimer’s may have caused her to forget some important things, but it never was able to take from her what mattered the most. Our young children would bring her books to read to them and would snuggle up with her to watch their favorite movie or cartoon.

  She may not have remembered their names, but she never forgot their souls.