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Easy As a Walk In The Park (My Mom’s Alzheimer’s)
“Mom, how is your thigh feeling?”
“Oh, just fine! The pain is gone.”
“There is no need to take the over-the-counter pain medicine the doctor recommends, right?”
“Right!”
The afternoon goes by without a hitch. The mysterious illness has been temporarily forgotten. Evening comes.
“Mom would you like to go for a walk?”
“Ok. But it needs to be short.”
“Sure mom, once around the complex as always.” I remind her. The doctor has gently suggested sunshine and physical exercise. My mother has had the unfortunate luxury of having a knockout figure all her life without ever having to do anything to maintain it. Even now, in her latter years, she is a size four with the curves of a thirty-year-old. Throughout my childhood I never saw my mother sweat. And when I could convince her to take a walk, it was more like preening than exercise. So now I have the daunting task of trying to convince her that exercise is actually necessary.
Trying to convince my mother to dress appropriately for the walk is almost as difficult. The temperature in the house is 76 degrees but she will have to unzip and remove the windbreaker, the long-sleeved dress under it and the lined dress pants under the dress, leaving…
