"The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster."
-Elizabeth Bishop
First, please watch the whole clip. It is beautiful.
From "Still Alice" -a movie I highly recommend to understand more about Alzheimer's
So I watched this movie and it made me think about these words, and my life, and the lives of those I work with...
The very next day I went to my patient's house, we'll call him Joe. Joe told me I could share his story. Joe is a Vietnam veteran, after his return home to a land that didn't welcome him, well, he decided to travel around the world. And he did. Literally. These pictures encompass his travels-he only took 3 airplane rides, the rest was walking, riding, banana boating, and sailing. He documented it very appropriately on a globe:
He told me story after story (we're working on his speech and communication, so this is allowed as a part of our therapy) and as he did, I saw this man, not as a weak and tired elderly person that needed my help, but as a young adventurer who has the wisdom of a thousand cultures and a thousand countries. He has an office full of pictures and awards, medals and journals. He treasures them.
I thought about my life, I'll probably never be to a quarter of the places he's been, I'll never see the sights he's seen, or witness the eras of history he's learned from. But through his stories, through his memories, I can learn some of it.
When I asked him what he learned from all of it, he said
"Oh, I'd tell everyone to not just take their surrounding's 'word for it',
go find things out for yourselves.
But mostly:
once I got back and got married, I realized home was wherever she was."
We really don't have to go around the world to all have life changing moments every day. How intentional are we about keeping them? When we see something that moves us, when we hear something that resonates, how often do we preserve that memory?
When we make a memory, make it last, preserve however you must; a picture, a journal, a story, a blog. So one day, even if we don't have Dementia or Alzheimer's we can all keep learning from each other and from our younger, adventuring-mother of young children-OR-newlyweds learning how to compromise-OR-single young adult finding out what you truly want-OR-first time as a professional-OR-gaining your education and living off tuna-selves. Wherever you are:
Let's be intentional about preserving those memories.
