Thought I would share this with you as I think you may find it heartwarming...
My neice is 5 yrs old and still has both her Grandads (my Dad being one of them) - unfortunately my Dad has AD (recent diagnosis) and her other Grandad suffered a very bad stroke last year so is in an electric chair and has only the use of one hand. She also has a cousin who although is 21 yrs old is severely disabled and will always need care. But my Neice is so unphased by all of this. Before she kisses her Grandad (the one who had the stroke) she says to him "now Grandad I am going to give you a kiss, please try not to drool on me too much this time" - this has her Grandad in hysterics laughing. To her cousin who unfortunately is a bit clumsy and has large front teeth (accidentally clonked my Neice on her head once and left teethmarks!) she says "I am going to let you cuddle me now - but be careful with those teeth!". And now she is aware of my Dad's failing memory - when she visits she says to him "Now you do remember who I am don't you Grandad?" (Dad does remember her as he is in early stages of AD at the moment) He finds this very amusing. Occasionally when Dad is repeatative she says "Oh Grandad, you have already told me that - but you can tell me again if you like".
As far as my Neice is concerned she has very special relatives and if anyone asks about them she can quite easily explain things in such a wonderful and heartwarming way as being "very special".
Whilst out feeding birds last week she came across a little boy who kept eating the bread she was putting out on a log for the birds to eat until his Mum apologised and explained he was disabled - totally unphased again my Neice said "oh that's ok" to his Mum and then turned to the little boy and said he was very welcome to eat the birds bread if he wanted to!
Its amazing how children see things in such a great way and cope so magnificently. I wish I could be more like my Neice.
Just wanted to share this with you.
Love
G
x
My neice is 5 yrs old and still has both her Grandads (my Dad being one of them) - unfortunately my Dad has AD (recent diagnosis) and her other Grandad suffered a very bad stroke last year so is in an electric chair and has only the use of one hand. She also has a cousin who although is 21 yrs old is severely disabled and will always need care. But my Neice is so unphased by all of this. Before she kisses her Grandad (the one who had the stroke) she says to him "now Grandad I am going to give you a kiss, please try not to drool on me too much this time" - this has her Grandad in hysterics laughing. To her cousin who unfortunately is a bit clumsy and has large front teeth (accidentally clonked my Neice on her head once and left teethmarks!) she says "I am going to let you cuddle me now - but be careful with those teeth!". And now she is aware of my Dad's failing memory - when she visits she says to him "Now you do remember who I am don't you Grandad?" (Dad does remember her as he is in early stages of AD at the moment) He finds this very amusing. Occasionally when Dad is repeatative she says "Oh Grandad, you have already told me that - but you can tell me again if you like".
As far as my Neice is concerned she has very special relatives and if anyone asks about them she can quite easily explain things in such a wonderful and heartwarming way as being "very special".
Whilst out feeding birds last week she came across a little boy who kept eating the bread she was putting out on a log for the birds to eat until his Mum apologised and explained he was disabled - totally unphased again my Neice said "oh that's ok" to his Mum and then turned to the little boy and said he was very welcome to eat the birds bread if he wanted to!
Its amazing how children see things in such a great way and cope so magnificently. I wish I could be more like my Neice.
Just wanted to share this with you.
Love
G
x