By Linda Skiles
As I watch my mother’s mind and language slowly slip away to Alzheimer’s I feel it very important to capture the stories of her life while she can still recall and tell them. In the Spring of 2009 I sat down with her and revisited the old photo albums, documenting what she had to say about each photo.
I then found a template by Jeana Parker and compiled a life story—“The Stories You Once Told”—of these favorite photos and the stories that correspond with them, certain to never be forgotten. Included in the book was a personal letter from each of her five children thanking her for the gifts of life she had provided over the years, and appreciation for her love and care to make us who we had become.
We presented the book to her for Mother’s Day. With her mind in another place, she merely glanced through it and set it aside, uncertain if she truly understood what it was all about. She gave the book away... It was returned. She hid the book so it would not be stolen... It was found.
Seven months later as we face the challenging task of placing her in an assisted living memory care facility, it is her book, with the stories of her life, that she has clung to, keeping it readily available to share with her new “neighbors” and staff, and help her through the difficult transition.
Upon arriving to visit on the second day, we found her in the common living room, visiting with all the other residents and proudly sharing her book and stories of who she once was and the stories she once told.
My mother’s disease has taken the person we knew from us, but with her Heritage Makers book, there is a glimmer of who she was as she shares the stories we love to hear. Her stories will remain in our hearts forever.
