Love Letter to D

I was fortunate to be able to write and read this letter to a teacher of mine a few days before her passage. She was already swaddled in a warm bath of love by her children and close friends, and it was truly an honor to have the time with her and with them. Years ago, a friend posted on FB his imminent death from pancreatic cancer, and the outpouring of love on FB from people all over the world, who were able to tell HIM the impact he had had on them, was awe-inspiring. One love letter is worth a hundred eulogies.

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Confusion

Alzheimer's and dementia can roughly be divided into three stages, mild, moderate, and severe. Its been a few years that my mother has been in the mild stage--forgetting details, names, repeating stories... all short-term stuff, but easily brushed off along the way... until it was eventually diagnosed. But she didn't share that diagnosis. I worried about her getting old and could see the changes, wondered when I was going to be able to talk her into getting tested, but had no idea that she had already known and chosen to disregard it. . . .

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A Different Kind of Journey

Today I am taking up the proverbial pen for a journey Beyond Ballard.

"What?" you say, "In Covid Times?"

Yes. This is a different kind of journey. No passports to stamp, no wild culinary exploration, no new markets to wander. The mountains to climb are high, and the road to walk is a long one, with twists and turns and unforeseen moments of piercing joy and staggering pain, and lots of long in-between hours. It's the journey with my mother toward her death.