Buck D. Law, SASS #62183 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I just received a call from a young lady who said, "I'm calling to see if you received your invitation to the Alzheimer's Kickoff Party." I thought, "Why am I getting this call?" Without thinking I responded, "I don't remember getting it." It was only after I hung up that it hit me that my response probably got me added to the call back list. She's probably thinking, "Perhaps he'll remember next time." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I didn't get an invite either??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nasty Newt # 7365 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 That's a good one for April 1, to go along with the note on your desk that says you need to call Myra Mains. The phone number is a funeral home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branchwater Jack SASS #88854 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 What were we talking about again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Pony Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Buck I had a lady in line at the deli counter behind me a while ago. I ordered whatever it was and she asked me if I'd had it before. Answered her truthfully that I had. She then asked if it was good and I swear before my maker its was ALL I could do to not answer with something like nope it was terrible, worst thing I'd ever eaten just to see her reaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Hill, sass # 49256 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 The up side to Alzheimer's is that you get to meet a lot of new faces Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 what was I gonna do ? WHY ? reckin I forgot CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypress Sun Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Not to cut on ya Buck.........I don't find anything funny about Alzheimer's Disease. Nothing like watching a loved one waste away into a scared little person.....not being able to do a damn thing about it. Sun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Not to cut on ya Buck.........I don't find anything funny about Alzheimer's Disease. Nothing like watching a loved one waste away into a scared little person.....not being able to do a damn thing about it. Sun I agree. Lost my Mom to it and it's worse than cancer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boon Doggle Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Like a lot of other things, Alzheimer's Disease is real funny, until it his someone close to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 The up side to Alzheimer's is that you get to meet a lot of new faces ….and you can watch the same movie every night!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bama Red Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Lost my Mom to it two years ago. She thought Alzheimer's was funny and we could joke about it some. I'm still able to find humor in bad things - my old partner called and wanted to come by the house to see me. When I put him off a day he said, "OK, just don't get in any ass-kickin' contests until I get there, cause you'll surely lose!" I laughed for five minutes!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Like a lot of other things, Alzheimer's Disease is real funny, until it his someone close to you. Yep, kinda like AIDS jokes for me, my little sister got it from a blood transfusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Fingers Slim Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I'm losing my Mother to Alzheimer's (shes 84), for now she jokes about it, like watching the same movie or tv shows and thinking shes never seen them before, but I see how it is taking a toll on my Dad (hes 82). We try to find humor in the hole thing, it helps some times..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck D. Law, SASS #62183 Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 The humor is not in anyone having alzheimer's, the humor is in the fact that I inadvertently said what I said without being quick enough to think about what the question was. Why did I do so? I propose because my mind is slowing down. As we age, most of us begin to have some memory loss, most of the time undiagnosed as the to exact reason since "getting old" is not a diagnosis. A bit over a year ago I lost my mother to cancer. The first signs of illness were my mother's inability to find a word to complete a sentence and her cognitive skills diminished rapidly. My siblings and I along with the doctors assumed it was the onset of dementia, possibly alzheimer's. After a few months of attempting to diagnose a memory problem, a fist sized tumor was discovered behind her esophagus. I do not know exact science of it all as far as in what order the organs were affected, I only know that from the date of diagnosis it was only two months before she was gone. Did I see things that made me sad? Oh, yes. Did I see things that made me smile? Yes, I did and they are the ones I focus on. Sometimes I was amazed...because the mind IS amazing. Once upon entering the room I walked to Mother's bedside and I could tell that she did not recognize me. I talked to her for a bit before walking to the other side of the bed for something and then back to the side where she could see me. Immediately she asked, "Who was that man?" At first I thought she was imagining someone being in the room. She continued by saying, "He looked like Aldon." I answered, "Mother the reason he looks like Aldon is because he is Aldon's son...and your son. It's was me, Mother." From deep in the recesses of her mind, she pulled a memory of my father who died in an 18 wheeler accident 49 years prior when he was 26 years old. I was seven. Now, how did she fail to recognize a 56 year old man who is her son, but think he looks like her long deceased husband who was 30 years younger? I don't know, but it made me smile. On another note, I spend every Thursday evening cooking dinner and spending time with my friend Robert, a 75 year old who even as a 40 year old described himself as "a bald headed, crippled old man." His early life was less than desirable, having grown up in a time when political correctness was not all the rage, failed the third grade because he couldn't write clearly. When he was in his late 60s, he met a woman 10 years his senior, "the sweetest woman who ever walked the planet, the love of my life" as he says. Unfortunately he only had five years with her before she had a stroke that sent her into severe dementia. He spends five afternoons and evenings with Dot, goes to church Wednesday evening and spends Thursday evenings with me. Part of the evening is always spent talking about "what Dot did." There are rare moments when she's Dot, but 99% of the time she's someone that didn't exist in the Dot he knew. Sometimes she's angry at him and everyone else. When she's this way, she'll tell him to "go find Robert" with the implication that Robert will straighten him and everyone else out. I think she thought a lot of Robert...and that's what I encourage him to focus on. Moral of the stories: Life deals lemons and I do the best to make lemonade...and I got that from my mother. I often told her that she could find humor in the strangest things. Apparently I'm her son. No cancer jokes or truck driver jokes please...and I'm kidding. I understand how people relate so closely to their life experiences. As a kid, I idolized truck drivers (imagine that) and listened to any song about them. Red Sovine had numerous truck driver songs, this one apparently inspired by the thought of a kid like me crossed with a kid like Robert. Teddy Bear...it's sad and it'll make you cry...but it has a good ending. Last week I had to have my car towed and on the wrecker was a sticker that said "Giddy Up Go." I asked the driver if he knew where it came from. He didn't, but said he put it there in honor of his dad who started the wrecker business. I told him it was a song...about a truck driver (imagine that!). Giddy Up Go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypress Sun Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 'Til you walk in another man's shoes.............great post Buck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curley Cole, SASS #56849 Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I worked psych for 43 years, There was a black humour used by persons in the field to help deal with some of the ugly parts of our job..(one good example was the joking you saw on M*A*S*H. Some outsiders would not understand what was going on or what was so funny. Sometimes it was the only way that a person could find their way to the end of their shift.) There are many fields that find their way to being a job that a "sane" person would not consider. FireFighter, Police, Emergency and most all the areas dealing with mental health. This kind of humor is not ment to be understood by the "layperson". and one should understand that no disrespect is ment to anyone, it is tool used by a person trying to maintain a semblance of sanity in a world of insane things. hope that sheds a bit of light on the subject curley cole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackwater 53393 Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 In the early stages of my dad's downhill slide into dementia, brought on by a botched aneurism surgery, in moments when he was totally aware, he would apologize for his actions by saying, "who is that stupid SOB?" You could tell that he was, bothered at best, mortified at times by his actions. It became less funny later as he became more frustrated, angry, and finally violent. He knew it, but wasn't able to control or cope with his loss of memory, control, and ability to interact with his family and friends. In all of that time, he never failed to find something in his situation to chuckle about in his dwindling moments of lucidity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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