Normally, Mitzi goes to bed fairly early. Keeping your thoughts collected when their tendency is to march out of your mind can be very exhausting. A few times a month, we’ll do a Girls Night Out with friends or her sister…it gives her a fun evening out and gives her husband a little down time to do projects and just relax. Sometimes we stay up later, but without fail, Mitzi will still get up early and quietly watch the sun rise. I never ask her why. In fact, I often just make sure she’s OK and then let her have that time to her thoughts.
She’s told me before that she’s always grateful for each new day. She’s told me that one of the gifts of Alzheimer’s is that most often, the morning has washed away anything that might have been less than stellar from the day before (like a lackluster doctor’s appointment or getting sad news from a friend, etc.). She does remember things that have happened (especially when I reiterate what they were), but she likes starting each day with the promise of what it has in store.
There is something liberating in that; starting new every morning. Imagine what a gift that would be in some of our relationships if our mind just didn’t let us hold onto hurt or wrongdoing past the sunrise.
The lessons I learn from Mitzi’s walk through this disease are so very much more than just how to have Alzheimer’s…
