Alzheimer's Transformed

By Barbara Erakko

No one can dismiss the devastating effects of Alzheimer's--yet Barbara finds herself inexplicably surprised by beauty and hope. Her mother leaves tantalizing clues that, while her mind is deteriorating, her spirit remains strong, healthy, and resilient. Indeed, it seems her mother is slowly being transformed from body to spirit. Barbara watches in awe. These stories, excerpted from Barbara Erakko's 465-page book, Elsie at Ebb Tide: Emerging From the Undertow of Alzheimer's, open a door to hope and grace. Readers report they feel transformed, and look at caregiving in an entirely different way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barbara Erakko
• Release date: Dec 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310871696

Barbara Erakko

Award-winning columnist for two newspapers and author, Barbara Erakko (also writing under Barbara Erakko Taylor) focuses on life-altering issues. She delves into the history of electric cars, explores the depths of silence in her personal life, and shares her unorthodox way of communicating with her mother in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's. Her writing has consistently garnered outstanding reviews in mainstream magazines, and excerpts have appeared in Utne, and Yoga Journal, among other publications. AVAILABLE FOR SALE: The Lost Cord: A Storyteller's History of the Electric Car (Greyden) Silence: Making the Journey to Inner Quiet (Innisfree Press) Silent Dwellers: Embracing the Solitary Life (Continuum) Elsie at Ebb Tide: Emerging from the Undertow of Alzheimer's (CreateSpace)

Book preview

Preface

This booklet contains stories and memories extracted from my latest book, Elsie at Ebb Tide: Emerging From the Undertow of Alzheimer’s .

This disease truly strikes terror. One cannot dismiss the undertow of Alzheimer’s or the burden of caregiving, grieving, and loss. Yet I found myself inexplicably surprised by beauty, hope, and in some strange way, spirit emerging from the rubble of a ruined mind.

Readers of Elsie at Ebb Tide remark that they are transformed; they see the disease differently. But not everyone has the time or energy to read a 465-page book—especially if they are in the throes of caregiving.

These stories have been carefully selected. They go to the heart of what happened between my mother and me as this unwelcome guest sat down at our table of love. Neither of us invited it or wanted it. But eventually we both allowed it a place at our table, and it became a member of our family, a part of our lives.

And we were transformed by it.

Introduction

Elsie Nurmi died on Friday, October 13, 2000—enough into the new millennium to firmly plant her feet and say, I made it, but not long enough to make much of a dent. She became a very reluctant member of a long family line stricken with Alzheimer’s.

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Ifeel , in some ways, those last years were the best for both of us. We had more fun; we laughed more. She resisted the disease with aplomb, insisting she never be told she had it. As her memory faded, she knew enough to ask me to get her a new brain. Can’t you find a doctor for that, Barbara?

She also knew enough to hurtle her cold fury at me when I moved her from Florida to Maryland, where I could supervise her care, icily telling me, "I never used the word ‘love’ with you. I don’t really like you."

I watched her life peel away, like an onion. First to go were the names of friends and her how-to-do-it knowledge. Sandra and I, her two daughters, dropped off the memory tree soon after like overripe fruit.

The memory of Herby, her deceased husband, languished for a while, then it too was gone. Last to go and most slowly was the memory of her job and her name ….

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Chapter 1: In the Beginning…

Elsie Julia Elizabeth Norlund, Protocol Officer, U.S. Department of State

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Elsie Julia Elizabeth Norlund Nurmi

Protocol Officer, U.S. Department of State

She led American delegations overseas using presidential aircraft. She attended coronations, private audiences with the pope, and met queens. When heads of state visited the United States, she coordinated hotels, food, and travel. In such heady circumstances, what surprised her most were the funny human moments such as handing First Lady Lady Bird Johnson a bouquet of flowerless stems.

But then her