Sitting in Mom’s Upstairs Hallway
Mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer Disease in February 2003. Alzheimer’s is an awful disease. It destroys brain cells, causing memory loss and problems with thinking and behavior severe enough to affect work, lifelong hobbies or social life. Alzheimer’s gets worse over time, and it is fatal. Mom left this world to be with her Lord on November 26, 2007.
During Mom’s early stages of Alzheimer’s, it was helpful to me if I could sometimes find the humor when Mom had problems with her mind. One such occasion was on April 14, 2004. My journal entry that date reads as follows:
“Mom thinks that I sit in her upstairs hallway. She asked me how many hours I sit there and if I am allowed to talk while sitting there. I tried to explain to Mom that I am not physically sitting in her hallway, that what she sees are pictures of me [sitting on a dresser in her hallway]. I don’t think she understood what I was saying. I told her if the pictures bother her to ask Mike [my nephew] to put them away. Mom said it didn’t bother her, that she liked me sitting in her hallway.”
A few years earlier (in November 1997) I was photographed at a Glamour Shots photo studio. I LOVED feeling like a movie star, if only for a day! One of the photographs that sat on Mom’s upstairs hallway dresser was from that photo session.
That photograph is now displayed in our house. I put the photograph in a double hinged frame. The second frame holds a photograph of me when I was 19 1/2 months old. The photo frame sits in the living room on top of our CD/DVD cabinet.
Every time I see my Glamor Shots photograph, it reminds me of Mom and how she thought I was physically sitting in her upstairs hall. The thought makes me smile.
The Beauty Around Us 
3 Responses to “Sitting in Mom’s Upstairs Hallway”
What a beautiful, sweet post. I am so glad you have that special memory of your mom during a difficult time in her life.The glamor shot was pretty nice, too!By the way, thanks for stopping by my blog – and no, they haven't found out what's wrong with my hubby yet…but the cardiologist is at least on the ball…whereas, our regular doctor was NOT!Have a good week, Linda.
Very wonderful post! (Especially the pics.)I lost a grandmother to Alzheimer's disease, and my mom died with it of something else a few years ago. My Mom-in-law is presently living with it in a special home that deals with those who are afflicted with AD, too. It is an awful disease.
What a sweet and funny story of your mom. So sorry to hear that she passed away from Alzheimers.