"Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." Isaiah 46:4
I think I have made it clear that Gramma has dementia, vascular dementia to be specific. We have good days and bad days, but always blessed days. We are blessed every day that she wakes up again! To be quite honest, dementia is very entertaining, for us and for Gramma. It is the source of much laughter for Gramma and she is ok with sharing it with us.
Whether she is saying something off the wall and then realizing it, or not realizing it, we laugh. One day we were in the van waiting for one of the kids to meet us with their ride. Gramma and I had been swatting at a fly for about an hour and she complained, referring to the fly as a "Micheal"! It became silent and we were looking straight ahead and I started to smile. About 30 seconds later, Gramma starts shaking her head while looking out the front window and says "Oh dear!" She looked at me and we burst out laughing. She does this often! I can't tell you how many times she has put her bra on OVER her shirt. I will say "Hey Gramma, look down. Are you sporting a new fashion there?" She starts cracking up and says "You know I'm not right." She points to her head and says "I'm not all there." We all laugh with her. On the other hand, there are some really "off" days when she has no idea what she's doing or why. She has gone into her room and removed all of her clothes from her amwoire and put them on the floor. When I ask about it, she says she is going to fold them neatly and put them away. Later she will ask me why all of her clothes are on the floor. I will say "Because you're going to fold them neatly and put them away!" She sarcastically says "Oh really? I'm gonna do that?"
Gramma's sense of humor has been part of her character as long as most can remember, even through the harshness of her "old self"! My children spend a lot of time talking to her because she makes them laugh. They run back and forth telling me what she says. One day, at the YMCA, a very large man walked in and Gramma began to say loudly "Oh, that man needs to be here for a while. He really needs to be here." Ayana was horrified and told her that she could not insult people like that and that she had been loud enough for him to hear her. A few minutes later two large men walked in. Ayana looks over and Gramma is "reading" a magazine (she cannot see, nor can she read any longer) and turning pages. She peers over the magazine at Ayana and says "What? I'm just sitting here reading my magazine." The men walk out and Gramma looks up at Ayana and winces. I thought Ayana would die laughing. Since having been saved, she catches herself and confesses that she should not say such things about people.
This situation could either bring us a lot of sorrow or a lot of laughs. It is bitter sweet to watch her slowly slip away, day by day. She has mini-strokes that take bits and pieces from her. The one thing that remains constant is her faith and her recollection of what God has shown her. It is amazing! You can talk with her at any time, even during a delusional episode, and the message is the same. "He knows me. He loves me!" So whether she is calling me "Lyda" and my uncle Ricky "Runny", she knows whom it is that saves her! She will point up and say "Him" if you can't understand her.
Pray for those in nursing homes with dementia. They are often lonely and confused. They don't have the opportunity to be understood because those that should know them are not there. I am thankful for every day with Gramma. When she is confused or cannot speak properly, we know what she is telling us. This makes her feel secure and loved. I praise God for people like Wendy Harper that go to nursing homes regularly as a ministry to the elderly. They need us to love them to death!
"What are you doing with that bra Gramma?"
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