"Life
From the Inside Out: Living With Alzheimer's Disease" -- Speeches
from the 11th annual Lyons Lecture, 23rd National Alzheimer
Society Conference, Halifax, NS, April 5-7, 2001
Speech
by Norma Selbie (page 1)
The
Alzheimer Society of British Columbia has helped me greatly
in the past few years, so now I try to help them help
others. And I do this by sharing the only story I know.
It's my life, as I live it today.
Please
listen with your hearts, then any mistakes I make will
self-correct, and leave all of us just to relax and see
where the next half-hour takes us.
At
church recently, I saw a young man and I remembered his
father had been ill. And you all know what a young man
is (that's 20 years younger than you are). I approached
this young fellow, and I said, "Mike, how is your
father doing? I remember he really wasn't doing well." And
Mike looked at me strangely, and said, "He died
two months ago." I felt bad. Not only do I have
to learn to be able to laugh at myself, sometimes I have
to just let go. I simply made a mistake. You see, I knew
Mike's dad had died.
Can
you imagine how frustrating life is when a quarter of
your information is missing? And you never know which
quarter, because it changes.
Sometimes
I turn on my computer, then have no idea how to get into
my programs. I'm a crib player and in the middle of a
game I can forget how to count my hand. And recently
I went grocery shopping with quarter in hand and I couldn't
think of how to get it into that little machine to release
the grocery cart.
There's
no two ways about it -- my life is more difficult now
than it used to be. Fortunately, with early stage support
meetings available, I now have a place where I can come
-- to talk and listen, to laugh. And we're not afraid
to laugh at ourselves -- and even shed a tear with others
who understand my frustrations like nobody else can.
These
meetings offer a safe haven for people like me. And believe
me, they speak health to the very core of my being. While
I do live on a slippery slope, be assured that behind
the language and memory difficulties, there's still a
thoughtful, intelligent person eager to enjoy life for
as long as possible.
Teaching
was a delightful career for me. I have specialties in
English as a second language and I'm a learning assistant
K through 12 -- a wonderful profession if you love children.
Little
did I know that personal funny stories would become a
way of life for me. Let me give you an example. I live
in a seniors' condo -- traditional entry hall cum mailroom.
A friendly type was down there already as I approached
and he said, "Hi, Norma. How are you?"
Speech continued...
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