Barbie’s Emergency (My Mom’s Alzheimer’s)

Photo by Sandra Gabriel on Unsplash

Mom’s great granddaughter bursts through the door like the Christmas Breeze. She is armed with a suitcase filled with Barbie dolls, and starts asking to play Monopoly before she greets us properly. After some redirection, she goes over to Mom and says a proper hello. Mom is unimpressed with the new flurry of activity. She refuses to play any games and ignores the dolls. The aide arrives, but her very limited English does not help to arouse Mom from her slump.

The aide sits next to Mom whose only interest is listening to oldies on the radio station. I put aside all of my tasks and sit on the floor next to my granddaughter. Soon I am explaining to Ken that he must take Barbie out dancing. My granddaughter is babysitting the Barbie babies who are behaving poorly.

Mom refuses every suggestion. The aide sits beside her, obviously bored. I encourage her to talk to Mom, but she does not speak English, only Creole. I continue to try to engage Mom, but she is solemn. The aide calls to me for help.

“You say, walk, no?” The aide asks, as a way out of her boredom.

Over the past year, I have made a walk around our complex a part of Mom’s daily routine. This latest aide has taken Mom out twice. It is a fifteen-minute walk at a snail’s pace, so I encourage them to go without me. Ken and Barbie are having…