My son and I watched a documentary on Guide Dogs today. There was a segment about a man named Trevor who had an auto-immune disease while he was in law school and went blind over the course of 8 months. He refused to settle for the conventional life that blindness seemed like it would offer him. So he went through training with a guide dog named Tennille and set out hiking on various trails around the country. Together they have hiked over 6,000 miles to date.
We watched in awe as these two walked steep, rocky mountain paths and climbed dangerous terrain. The narrator said, “Trevor has total faith that Tennille understands the limitations of his blindness to such a degree that she is capable of making decisions for the both of them.”
Wow. If there was ever a perfect way to describe the bond between a caregiver and someone with Alzheimer’s Disease, it was in that narrator’s words. That is exactly what you have to do. Think 100% for the other person in order to keep them safe, and healthy and, hopefully, happy. Because Alzheimer’s is a total uphill climb on some of the roughest, harshest territory there is.
Trevor said of his sidekick, “She has actually learned what is consistently problematic for me and does what she can to avoid it. She has helped me overcome the limitations of my condition and given me freedom again.”
Caregiving for someone who is walking through the Valley of Alzheimer’s is one of the hardest, most emotionally draining jobs out there that is also absolutely one of the greatest blessings you can ever get by giving. I know there are so many moments or days or seasons in that Valley that make it hard to see the gift that you are giving the other person. But here looking back, on the other side of that journey, when you’ve had the chance to be one of those people who has helped someone have a little more freedom, security, and happiness than they might have otherwise had, it is such a gift.
I’m so grateful for the reminder I got of that truth today…????
