On or about: 03-18-08  14:12, Ardith Hinton did engage James Bradley
regarding, but not limited to: Senior Moments

 AH> I figured it was close enough too.  I could 
 AH> probably find out when Alzheimer's was initially 
 AH> identified.  OTOH I can locate a word in a standard desk 
 AH> dictionary in eleven seconds... I had one of my students 
 AH> time me once... and I already knew the publication date of 
 AH> this book.  :-)

...But what if you didn't know the spelling? 

Pardon me, but a friend convinced me to sit on a drum throne Saturday. He
actually only needed to provide a setup, a bass player, and pick up a
guitar. I just had a sneeze that plucked the sciatic, and my eyes are
watering. I'll try not to be disjointed.

"Onward and awkward!" P-|
 
 
 JB>  I regret to announce the death of my God-Father on
 JB>  January 18. His fight with dementia, or Alzheimer's -

 AH> I gather you lost both him & your father within about a
 AH> year... 

Someone's been taking notes.  Dad was a rabblerouser, and two of
his best buddies followed him into this endeavour, and my "Uncle"
did so *exactly* two weeks short of dad's 'anniversary'.

When we were finished making noise last week, the other two were trying to
practice their "black" humour. (No, not 'racially' in case others
may read, but to deal with morbidity, and topics associated with the 'dark'
side of "humanity". Mostly white middle-aged males, BTW. B-) I
told them, my God-Fathers' estate was selling a butcher shop, next to the
RCMP station, which was next door to the graveyard. My "Uncle"
worked for the mortuary, sold memorial stones, and was trained in butchery
and taxidermy. That shut the topic up in a hurry. 


 AH> but they've left you a wonderful legacy, in their sense of
 AH> humour. 

...And dad's local friend - the most accurately I can express it is, an
excrement-eating grin was on their faces, whenever they were together. A
little bit of hellions those two were, but *usually* on the right side of
the law.

At the end of the eulogy, what can we do but laugh at the good, and cry for
the bad. Like Alzheimer's, I curse alcoholism too. I know they are both
medically diseases, but the later I still can't help but to attach a choice
to it. I know that's not fair of me.

I watched a show where a medical examiner volunteered, that if a person
studies the body parts that can be affected by alcoholism, you end up
learning anatomy completely. Like aphasia affecting any part of a brain, I
was more suprised to learn what can get pickled.


[RE: Cliches]
 AH> Yes, it helps keep many things in perspective.  :-))
 
There's a thought. 

 
 JB>  [Stroke] could also affect a language center, no?

 AH> Exactly.  With damage on the left side of the brain a
 AH> person may  be paralyzed on the right side of the body and/or have 
 AH> difficulty using language. That's how it was with my 
 AH> father's sister.  I'd read a bit about aphasia... so when 
 AH> my parents informed me she was worried about something, but 
 AH> they couldn't figure out what, I visited her & asked a 
 AH> series of yes/no questions.  She used gestures to tell me 
 AH> she hadn't yet paid the taxes on her house (which were due very soon)
 AH> and the  tax notice was in a cupboard in the kitchen.  As soon as he 
 AH> understood the problem, my father paid the taxes.  One of 
 AH> Nora's room mates at Sunny Hill had aphasia too.  When I 
 AH> explained it to Nora, then turned to her & asked if my 
 AH> assessment was correct, this girl nodded vigorously & 
 AH> grinned from ear to ear.  When she couldn't speak other 
 AH> folks probably tended to assume she didn't understand.  As 
 AH> an "intuitive" thinker, I don't give up so easily.  :-)
 
Wow... I'm simply in awe!
 
 AH> Strokes can affect almost anything, depending on which
 AH> parts of  the brain have been injured.  Dallas & I saw an interview 
 AH> on TV with a man who had been very supportive before his 
 AH> stroke, according to his wife, but came across as 
 AH> emotionally flat.  She said that while he still recognized 
 AH> how she felt, it didn't occur to him to *do* anything about 
 AH> it.  Sometimes my body doesn't work exactly the way human 
 AH> bodies are supposed to work and/or I don't connect names 
 AH> with faces... so neither bothers me as much as a major 
 AH> personality change.

I think you are eluding to just not having that part of your brain 'muscle'
developed. I'm not insinuating anything, but if blood flow aint encouraged
to a muscle, that muscle atrophies. Now, you recognize Dallas, and Nora,
and I'd *like* to think this driveling is associated to my name, but you're
just not strong in the name-face association department?


 AH> When you felt you had a good visit he probably 
 AH> did too, even if (or because) he neither knew nor cared 
 AH> what day it was.  My mother had always been the one who 

That's a very sweet way to look at it. Thanks! He was such a dear man. I
carry that visit in my heart preciously. I parlayed a snippet of our
conversation to his son, where mom asked, "You know what I
think?"

VERY characteristically, he shot back, "No, not really." with
VERY typically, astute diction.


 AH> sent cards on everybody's birthday & so forth.  It really
 AH> troubled her when she could no longer remember the date or 
 AH> the day of the week.  I lose track of time when I'm on 
 AH> holiday, but for me that's perfectly normal....  ;-)

Oh... Holidays... Where do I line up for those?  Actually, the two
weddings I attended last year were *very* welcome diversions, so I aint
complainin'... Much. 


 AH> [re (...) exhaustion]
 JB>  I suppose mom would care about that news, but I'd suspect
 JB>  you're a better sounding board for something otherwise so
 JB>  mundane. 


 AH> I feel honoured!  Yes, I know how much energy 
 AH> may be required to do things which a lot of other people 
 AH> take for granted... [another wry grin].

Sheesh... I get a call this morning from next door, that someone's
squatting in my back yard. Good thing the sciatic calmed down, but I spent
about the only hour I could muster, to pack his crap up and toss two boxes
of hardwood flooring into a window, so he would lose his
"mattress".

Ah... Life, eh? 


... James

___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20

--- Maximus 3.01