| presents excerpts from |
ISBN 0-9778140-0-9
326 pages, 68 photographs.
326 pages, 68 photographs.
....Neither of our parents seemed to really fear much of
anything, though Dad had an underlying worry about
poverty—a carryover from the Depression. Each parent
had incredible strength of purpose yet very different energy.
For Dad, it was more a “man’s driving strength” that
carried him through. For Mother, it was her faith and
serenity and joy in living life. They both believed in the
health of happy laughter and also in doing the right thing.
Following his funeral, we sent out a thank you card to
those who attended and those who sent cards or made a
donation to their church’s soup kitchen where we had
requested donations be sent. On the front of the card I
designed and composed, I borrowed a line from Mr.
Shakespeare as a fitting epitaph—“He was a man, take him
all in all. We shall not see his like again.” The same could
equally be said for Mother except that she was able to live
on an even higher plane, part of which was facilitated by
Dad’s outside labor; we were fortunate to have a stay-at-
home Mother. They were a unique couple who did their
best throughout their lives, and then passed on to the next
life.
I mention my parents’ individual lives and their life
together because it is an important portion of my mother’s
whole life; and that is the purpose of this chapter.
Before moving into the story of the effect of Alzheimer’s
disease (AD) on one victim—my mother, Bernice
Buchanan—it is important to see her whole life, her unique
and pure humanity. When many people see an Alzheimer’s
victim, or simply hear the dreaded words Alzheimer’s
disease, they can’t see beyond the devastation of the
victim—the horror of mental and physical disintegration
which only get worse in this terminal illness. It is fearful;
however, it is more important to recognize the humanity of
the victim, before and during the progression of this illness.
It is important to realize that not all people respond alike as
the illness grabs hold of them. Their response and reactions
can be linked to their inherent nature, their faith, how they’
ve lived their life, how they’ve been treated, how effective
their support system is, and probably other things that I
don’t know about.
What I do know is that the most effective contribution I
made in helping Mother was my portion of the love we
shared during the struggles with the disease. What I also
realized was that....
anything, though Dad had an underlying worry about
poverty—a carryover from the Depression. Each parent
had incredible strength of purpose yet very different energy.
For Dad, it was more a “man’s driving strength” that
carried him through. For Mother, it was her faith and
serenity and joy in living life. They both believed in the
health of happy laughter and also in doing the right thing.
Following his funeral, we sent out a thank you card to
those who attended and those who sent cards or made a
donation to their church’s soup kitchen where we had
requested donations be sent. On the front of the card I
designed and composed, I borrowed a line from Mr.
Shakespeare as a fitting epitaph—“He was a man, take him
all in all. We shall not see his like again.” The same could
equally be said for Mother except that she was able to live
on an even higher plane, part of which was facilitated by
Dad’s outside labor; we were fortunate to have a stay-at-
home Mother. They were a unique couple who did their
best throughout their lives, and then passed on to the next
life.
I mention my parents’ individual lives and their life
together because it is an important portion of my mother’s
whole life; and that is the purpose of this chapter.
Before moving into the story of the effect of Alzheimer’s
disease (AD) on one victim—my mother, Bernice
Buchanan—it is important to see her whole life, her unique
and pure humanity. When many people see an Alzheimer’s
victim, or simply hear the dreaded words Alzheimer’s
disease, they can’t see beyond the devastation of the
victim—the horror of mental and physical disintegration
which only get worse in this terminal illness. It is fearful;
however, it is more important to recognize the humanity of
the victim, before and during the progression of this illness.
It is important to realize that not all people respond alike as
the illness grabs hold of them. Their response and reactions
can be linked to their inherent nature, their faith, how they’
ve lived their life, how they’ve been treated, how effective
their support system is, and probably other things that I
don’t know about.
What I do know is that the most effective contribution I
made in helping Mother was my portion of the love we
shared during the struggles with the disease. What I also
realized was that....
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Copyright ©2006 Heydon Buchanan. All Rights Reserved.
| CHAPTER 3 THE LIFE WELL-LIVED |
Living by example is not the main thing in
influencing others, it is the only thing.
—Albert Schweitzer
influencing others, it is the only thing.
—Albert Schweitzer