Enya

Some people may wonder how I can tell this story--how can I tell all of these personal things? If I really loved my mother, how can I tell bad things about her?

It wasn't my mother when bad things happened. It was the disease--Alzheimer's. In the good times I saw glimpses of my mother, as she really was before Alzheimer's started taking her from us, and I cherish those moments. While I was taking care of her, it was so helpful to me to read biographies and personal stories, some even in the form of journals, by Alzheimer's caregivers. I want to help others the way those authors helped me. So then, how can I not tell this story?

It took me a year of reading through my scribbled notebooks and typing the journal here. There were times when I just couldn't get myself to do it--when the memories were too painful. But finally I have completed it. Here is the story of my year with my mother:

My Journal: August-October 1994 November 1994 December 1994 January 1995 February 1995 March 1995 April 1995 May 1995 June-July 1995 August-September 1995 October 1995 November 1995 December 1995 January-April 1996 Afterword: May-August 1996