Slip of The Mind

 

Memory is one of the most precious parts of our lives. In many ways, the memories we have shape who we are as a person. By most of society, memories are taken for granted; as something we can always hold on to forever. In 2006, there were 821,884 people affected by dementia in the UK, with many of those diagnoses being Alzheimer’s disease. The disease is one that causes a slow and degenerative loss of the short-term memory and then carries through to the long-term memory. The effect of that is noticeable and horrific memory loss, and for the people who are close to them they see the memory of the relationship they had with them disappear piece by piece until there are no more that they can remember.

 

In October 2012, my Gran passed away at the General Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne. She slipped away not remembering who I was & where she was because of a disease she couldn’t even remember she had. Alzheimer’s denied what made her who she was and caused her to slowly fade away from the ones she loved.

 

Alzheimer’s Disease didn’t kill her, it did something far worse. She passed not understanding what was happening to her. This work has been my attempt to understand what she went through. This piece is attempting to empathize with her and do what she could not; remember her and the memories I shared with her.