from the foundation


Help us help others Poignant lessons show dementia’s reach


By Charles Hiatt, Ph.D., Executive Director, The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Foundation


I


n nearly every conversation I have about the place where I work, someone begins to tell me a story about a senior adult they know. Often it is a senior adult with some stage or form of dementia. As you have read this magazine with its focus on Alzheimer’s disease, you likely reflected on the seniors you know who have been affected by this challenging disease. I know this is true for me. Although it has been more than a decade since my mother died from the ravages of Alzheimer’s and a stroke, I still clearly remember the pain of watching this disease slowly take her away from us.


Two moments were especially poignant. Psalm 23: The Lord is My Shepherd


The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green


pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.


20 The Good Samaritan • 2011 • Vol. 45 • No. 2


After Mom’s stroke, I visited her in the hospital and learned from the nursing staff that the normal post-stoke rehabilitation was not working for her because she could not remember from session to session what she needed to do to counteract the physical effects of the stroke. Fortunately, it had not affected her speech which led to the first powerful moment. Before leaving her room one day I decided to read some scripture for her. I chose Psalm 23 and began to read, “The Lord is my shepherd,” and then paused for a breath. To my amazed surprise, Mom finished the line with the phrase, “I shall not want.” Through my teary eyes and amazed heart, I began to read the rest of Psalm 23, pausing after each phrase. To my delight, Mom finished every line exactly.


The second poignant moment came a few months later when we visited Mom after she had been admitted to skilled care in Colorado. My wife and I took our son and one of his high school friends along so the boys could ski and we could visit Mom in the nursing home. During his high school years, my son Aaron wrote a youth column for our local newspaper. After that trip he wrote an article (appearing on the top of the next page) that described his response to his grandmother and her Alzheimer’s. It is very apparent from the article that a tender moment in grandma’s room was of more significance than Aaron’s Colorado ski trip.


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