9 years ago I lost my Dad through cancer, leaving my Mom widowed after 51 years.

A couple of years later she was being forgetful, losing things, going to the shops and not remembering why, these sorts of things. Was she just being forgetful through old age or was it something more we’d ask ourselves. Mom wouldn’t accept that she was being forgetful, perhaps to her she wasn’t, perhaps when Dad was around he would mask her forgetfulness?

She lived alone and wanted to be independent but she was becoming vulnerable, she’d have falls, forget her tea was cooking, lock herself in or out the house. Slowley it worsened and after a bad fall, she was assessed and it was decided that it was unsafe for her to live at home anymore and she went into a care home.

The care home was good for her, she was with people all the time, had her meals cooked for her and had company. There was even a glimmer of my Mom back again. But over time she got worse, didn’t know who we were but now and again you could see in her face and eyes that there was a vague recollection, if only for a moment or two. Her verbal communication starting failing and her ability to feed herself and after a couple of stays in hospital, Sadly she passed away last November.

Did she pass peacefully? Nobody knows, I hope she did but who knows what she felt or could recollect. What I do know is she had had enough, she had had enough of being poked and prodded, she’d had enough of having to reply on someone helping her do basic things that she could independently do for herself for 75 years.

I did this memory walk 2 years ago when my Mom could still vaguely remember who I was, I did it to support the work that Alzheimer’s do and I did it to support my Mom and what she was going through.

This year, I am doing it in memory of my Mom ❤️