Red Eyebrows (My Mom’s Alzheimer’s)

Photo by Lombe Kapaya on Unsplash

“Mama, why are your eyebrows red?”

Mom’s rambunctious six-year-old great granddaughter bursts into the house greeting Mom with her quick and frank observation. Mom doesn’t respond to the question. Each of her eyebrows is indeed a deliberate and bright red arc.

Earlier this morning Mom had called out to me from her room,

“Dixie, I can’t find my eyebrow pencil.”

I had joined her in the hunt, looking in all the usual places. Typically, I find her lost items in her purse, or in the most unlikely places. This search turned up nothing. It is the fourth eyebrow pencil that has gone missing in the space of weeks. I have started buying back-up pencils for just such an occasion. But today I am slow in replacing the missing cosmetic. I rush to finishing baking in time for the arrival of the ball of energy that is my granddaughter. Meanwhile Mom had improvised by painting her eyebrows on her own. My questions are also met with blank stares, so I leave it alone. But still I wonder, why are her eyebrows red? What could she possibly have used to make red eyebrows?

As the evening with our little visitor progresses, we dive into fixing puzzles, playing monopoly, having tickle fights and observing gymnastic moves. Mom sits in the midst of the six-year-olds’ energy, present but somewhat stoic. We…