| ||||||||||
 
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
Chuck Hinman, IJMA No. 358: Living with AD It's Just Me Again No. 358. Living with AD - Alzheimer's Disease. Chuck Hinman writes about the changes in their lives after his wife Connie's onset of Alzheimer's Disease The next earlier Chuck Hinman column: Chuck Hinman, IJMA No. 097: Outdoor toilets By Chuck Hinman After being members of New Harmony Baptist Church in rural Bartlesville, Oklahoma, for over 45 years, I moved our membership to Eastern Heights Baptist Church in 2000. I say "I," because Connie was in the throes of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Eastern Heights was just a few blocks from our house, practically in our front yard. We had many friends in that church and we enjoyed going to both Sunday school and Church services. Connie's cognitive function was 100 percent destroyed so that she couldn't speak, nor did she understand spoken words. In spite of her many problems, she looked like a million dollars and I dressed and groomed her to the hilt. Everyone knew and loved Connie! People who didn't know this classy lady would never have known of her dreadful walk with AD. She masked it with her sweet personality. It wasn't uncommon for her to fall asleep shortly after the sermon started. Normally she would lay her head on my right shoulder. But on this particular morning, our seating arrangement had gotten skewed for some reason before the service started. I was on her right side. Some man I didn't know sat on her left side where I normally sat. In Connie's state of Alzheimer's disease, she couldn't sort-out this seeming small change in routine. No matter what I did to make her aware of my presence beside her, and distract her from this "stranger," she rejected my efforts. It was embarrassing! I recognized the problem. I was not in the right location! I wasn't where her tangled mind had been used to me being. I didn't want to ask this man to exchange places with me. He wouldn't have understood. Finally, Connie tiring of her confusion gave in to the hopelessness of the situation. She put her head on this man's shoulder and fell asleep, drooling slightly on the lapel of his jacket as she normally did on mine. I knew that everyone sitting nearby, including the man sitting next to her, was caught up in the drama of this curious situation! I was devastated and helpless what to do. I wanted to bawl my eyes out! I knew my precious sweetie fell asleep thinking that I, whoever I represented in her twisted mind, had totally abandoned her. I shuddered in abhorrence at my complete helplessness! Mercifully, the service ended. Connie roused from her sleep. I helped her to her feet with the aid of the man on whose shoulder she had slept. Church friends gathered to encourage us as they always had. I thanked God that in spite of this scary incident, Connie once again accepted my "being" as holding hands a little tighter than usual, we departed for Luby's for dinner. I loathe AD for how it degrades its victims but I found that you can live with it if you try. We did! - Chuck Hinman, emailed Tuesday, November 17, 2009 This story was posted on 2012-05-06 02:35:35
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Chuck Hinman - Reminiscences:
Chuck Hinman, IJMA No. 097: Outdoor toilets Chuck Hinman, IJMA No. 325: Chan Bush: Chat Room Friend Chuck Hinman, IJMA No. 170: The Rest of the story Chuck Hinman: IJMA 163 - Don't Borrow Keepsakes Chuck Hinman, IJMA: Kissing in my family Chuck Hinman: IJMA 103 : Honeymoon Memories Chuck Hinman No. 162-B, Good night, John-boy Chuck Hinman, IJMA No. 370 : Windmills, Remember Them? Chuck Hinman. IJMA 302. A self-taught skill Chuck Hinman: IJMA No. 339 : New Hope School View even more articles in topic Chuck Hinman - Reminiscences |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||
