Response to Washington Post Alzheimer's Article

My mother-in-law, too, loved her Christmas decorations. There was a huge string of letters that spelled out M - E - R - R - Y C - H - R - I - S - T - M - A - S. It had once hung on her mantle. I would fasten it, with poster putty and two-sided tape and wire, to her wall above her bed. I put the toilet paper roll Santa that she had gotten at a church sale right next to her bed. I put her angels on her dresser. I put her pretty Christmas dress on her, and we’d walk down the hall to visit my mother. We’d look at the tree in the sitting room and all the decorations on the doors. We’d talk about whatever Christmas she was remembering at the time. I remembered it with her.

When I sat with all of my elders, we told Christmas stories. And whatever the stories were, they were true. We wove tales that were combinations of their childhood memories, their teen years, their early married years and their imaginations. And I defy anyone to say they were not 100 percent true. If the stories existed in the minds of my loved ones, then they were true enough to suit me.

Nadine Harris knows how wonderful her charges feel dressed up. She knows how to help them enjoy the gifts they are – or are not - getting. She helps them talk about the people they have loved and their fond Christmas memories that they are reliving. She becomes part of their truth.

Thank God research has finally caught up with the heart of this daughter and the heart of Nadine Harris, this wonderful woman who helps dementia patients celebrate Christmas past, present and future. Tamara Jones wrote an important story. It’s a story that will help readers understand that Alzheimer’s patients can find joy, if we help them.

For more information about Carol go to www.mindingourelders.com or www.mindingoureldersblogs.com.