Alzheimer's
Disease
After
seeing the television coverage of the death of Ronald Reagan and the
steadfastness shown by Nancy Reagan, I have to have my say. I applaud Mrs.
Reagan on her stance concerning research to combat and cure this devastating
disease. What worse situation can one be in than to see a loved one taken to a
place where they can't be reached, a place where I am sure there is no
order, no logic, only confusion and emptiness?
As a caretaker for one with Alzheimer's, I pray for the cure that is taking my
loved one. As the child of a mother that suffered from this disease, I watched
as she slowly left never to return. Now I watch as my wife makes that same slow
journey. A journey, which to me has no rhyme or reason.
Far be it for me to step on the beliefs of others who would slow the discovery
of a treatment, dare I say a cure, for Alzheimer's. To quote President Reagan,
"I will take sixty-percent in a compromise and work for the rest next
year."
A great word is 'compromise'! In this great land where all are welcome and
excepted, is there not a 'compromise' that will help those like my wife and
mother avoid this journey to such an alien place? If there were a way for
me to take the place of either of my loved ones, I would do it gladly and with
no hesitation to spare them from the agony and frustration that has to come with
Alzheimer's!
If anyone quotes me when I am gone let it be with this: "Let
me go when my work here is done. Let me not linger in a twilight between heaven
and earth, but allow me swift passage one to the other!"
© June 22, 2004
Short Grass Enterprises, Inc.
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