You take a lot for granted. Relatives, Friends etc…
Last week I ran into two of dad’s friends. People who have seen me from when I was a kid. These are people who as I have seen used to love conversation had stories that one enjoyed listening to.. imagine my shock when I saw them and found out they have beginnings of Alzheimer’s disease. Heart rending to see these very people failing to recognize you.
To top it all, I attended a wedding earlier this week. Met a grand aunt who in the past was as bubbly as they come. Now shes completely withdrawn and took 5 minutes to even recognize me.
Sigh !!!!!
July 4, 2007 at 3:03 am |
oh! this is very sad to hear. There is a philosophy that forgetting lot of things is a blessing but this sounds so horrible…!
Well, hope they have somebody to take care of them and all(atleast few of) their needs.
July 4, 2007 at 3:07 am |
Is she also suffering from Alzheimer’s disease ?? I thought the disease is not very common, one in some thousands or something.
Yes, it is very difficult to see our elders in this state of mind. Reminds me of Amitabh Bachchan’s role in ‘Black’. Though I knew about it that’s the first time I could ’see’ it.
July 4, 2007 at 3:59 am |
Life in full bloom!!
My junior has started growing fresh sets of teeth at 6 years while my father has started loosing them permanently…. gods own way of recycling in nature… father looses and grandson gets it.
Getting killed and fading away from memory very normally a short run aspect but diseases like cancer , alzhimers , challanged kids ( particularly their parents) are quite distressing.Hope science can provide some break through for all these and just not give up saying its in genes.
July 4, 2007 at 4:52 am |
@Veena: Fortunately for all of them they have very caring families.. Children, Grandchildren etc
@Cuckoo: My Grand Aunt has slipped into a depression following the Tsunami… she stopped eating… any amount of cajoling, counseling has not worked… shes losing her “facilities” one by one… Its so sad.. she was the life of any party.. she taught Carnatic music as well…
@Mohan: Correct.. “The Circle of Life”
July 4, 2007 at 6:55 am |
The Karma theory in its implementation?? very very sad.
July 4, 2007 at 9:30 am |
That’s life… sad to hear…
July 4, 2007 at 10:52 am |
This one is very sad and it is unbeleivable to see such a bubbling people become so numb
but it is like that. I understand there are specialist to treat this now a days. increase in no of doctors so many new specialities sub specialities start kala chakra urulutta irutte
July 4, 2007 at 11:24 am |
That sure is sad
And we can’t do anything about it… that’s even more sadder…
I think it’s God’s way of showing us that there are certain things which are beyond us.. and he is ultimately the greatest of all….
On the brighter side.. atleast people suffering from Alzeimers don’t feel themselves as to what they are undergoing… whereas with diseases like cancer and aids, people suffer both physically and mentally… which is even more awful.
All part of life I guess…
July 5, 2007 at 3:56 am |
So sad to hear about Ratna ajji. I just have to close my eyes and can still hear her booming, jovial voice…. She truly was the light in every room she entered. Not to mention Kittu taata who’s stories deserve a post on this blog from you…
July 5, 2007 at 4:26 am |
How sad!
About your grand-aunt, why did the tsunami have such an effect on her? Was she there?
July 5, 2007 at 4:40 am |
@Shark: I guess thats the “positive” way of looking at it…
@Aditya: I was so shocked when I saw her… unbeleivable… lol on Kittu Thatha
@Chitra: She spends her time between Pune and Chennai (with her sons)… she was in Chennai when the Tsunami happened… Doctors opine that she was already slipping and the Tsunami was the “tipping point” so to speak…
July 6, 2007 at 2:10 am |
Oh well Vijay, I don’t know where to start…..I guess I won’t, I shouldn’t.
Let me just say that it takes as much toll on the relatives as it does on the patients. I sincerely hope that nobody ever gets this disease…oh well, wishful thinking.
Shit, you made me cry…..
July 6, 2007 at 2:27 am |
DS: I know I know…Sorry man..
July 6, 2007 at 1:02 pm |
Oh, how sad! Especially since you say she was who she was! I almost want to hug her …
July 9, 2007 at 5:07 am |
I too avoided writing anything here.
I am still grieving .
My father passed away in 2000.
He couldn’t recognise me in his last two years….
July 9, 2007 at 6:48 am |
Neela: That is indeed very very sad…
July 9, 2007 at 9:39 am |
I think it is all Karma across births and re-births
One guy with Alzheimers whom i can remember is ex-president of USA, Ronald Reagan(i think he is still alive)….remember the height of the Cold war and how powerful Reagan was…..in the end he is a vegetable…….so much for Kaala chakra…
July 9, 2007 at 2:59 pm |
Ramesha: Reagan is no more.. died in 2004
February 22, 2008 at 1:46 pm |
Very sad to read your post as well as the comments that follow. My brother lives in Bangalore and attends all functions. He takes pictures of relatives that visit the function and just 1-2 of the main people. Even for my son;s upanayana, we had the photographer concentrate on the relatives and friends. My father;s uncle passed away soon after that. We have all the memories and the children now remember him through the pictures.