We’re very grateful for this piece written by Gail Baker. On a day with the sky blue and high and the smell of hyacinths in the air, everything began to crumble. I picked up the phone to hear crushing news. My Mom, Pat Baker, was experiencing her first signs of memory loss. The family remained […]
When Kiss Means Kill: Reflections on the Apocalypse of Language
“As the cool stream gushed over one hand, she spelled into the other the word water, firstly slowly then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motion of her fingers. Suddenly I felt the misty consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed […]
“We Just Have to Find a Way to…(Sigh)”: Wallander and the Memory of God
Kurt Wallander: It’s just moments, now, Dad. Everything. Just moments now. They don’t join up. Povel Wallander: What don’t? Kurt: My memories. My life doesn’t join up. Can’t remember. Povel: Someone else will remember. Someone will remember for you. While watching episode two of Wallander, series four, I began to see the writing on the wall […]
Inheritance
Today, I was working on a rent house—cleaning baseboards and repairing cabinet doors, among other things—and I found myself needing a tool from my truck. I remember standing up and walking out of the door of the rent house and my mind just completely blanking out on the walk to my truck. The very reason […]
Step Into Their World: The Parallel Universes of Alzheimer’s and Improv
By following the rules of improvisation, one family finds love and humor within the wilderness of dementia.
The episode “Magic Words” aired last month on This American Life and in it you’ll hear “Rainy Days and Mondys,” the story of Karen Stobbe, her husband Mondy, and her mother Virginia, who recently moved into their house because she has dementia.
