Ramblings

 "See the lights do a long, slow fade ..." Bruce Hornsby I watched the long, slow fade of my mom as Alzheimer's and Dementia stole the woman I knew as mom. It was very hard, especially emotionally to watch. It was draining in the extreme. Who she was faded away over time. At the end, she retained a good bit of who she was but much was still lost. When we moved her to Hospice, she went fast. Sadly, this is not always the case. There are those who push for assisted suicide. They posit that people should not be made to suffer. That once they're dying, we should allow them to hasten the process rather than suffer. I understand that sentiment after watching my mom go. I am also currently watching someone much-loved fade away. The Medical community says they have done all they can, so she was brought home to die the long, slow fade. Some, when they go into Hospice, pass quickly. For others, it is sadly a prolonged affair as the body shuts down. It is gut-wrenching and painf...

 It's something we all face, the dying of a loved one. I speak of the dying, not the death. Watching someone die is, in my opinion, much harder to deal with than their death itself. I say this as someone who lost his dad to a car wreck and his mom to death from Alzheimer's and Dementia. One was instantaneous and the other protracted and long. BOTH were hard to deal with but one was much more painful than the other.  Watching the slow death is much harder as it drains your emotions a little at a time in a continuous suck. Watching someone die who can no longer be helped by doctors is a slow and draining process. Watching someone fade is quite painful. Repetitive? Yes. I'm wanting to drive it home how draining it is to watch. It is torturous. You have your insides ripped apart every day. I watched my mom fade from the person I'd known all my life to someone different. She lost parts of who SHE was and who I'd known over time. It's the same for someone who doctors ...