My mother has always been an amazing woman. Caring for four children with the patience of a saint. She was diagnosed with a case of "probable Alzheimer's in 1998. Today she is in a nursing home, unable to walk, able to speak only a few words, and in the last chapter of this disease. She is still an amazing woman! My mother lives in the "now". Still teaching me through a smile now and again, to enjoy each moment of life. I'd be lying to say that I've never prayed for something else to take her before AZ completely consumes her, but this has been mostly due to my own desperation. I find myself disagreeing with others who say that this disease strips her of her dignity. Is dignity really based on whether you wear an adult diaper or are able to communicate through language? Everytime I see her I see a woman of dignity.

UPDATE: My mom died on Wednesday January 6, 2010 with her family at her side. Fourteen years after she had been diagnosed with a probably case of Alzheimer's. "The disease of a thousand subtractions" ....and so it is. Each subtraction came with it's share of grief. But strangely, as difficult as it was at times, the entire experience has changed me for the better. I think of Alzheimer's as my mother's final lesson to her son. The lesson that the value of people does not depend on their level of understanding, or whether they happen to be incontinent, or whether they remember any of their life or the people in it. But rather people have value because God says they do....without condition. Looking back it was an absolute honour to take care of her. Would I have wished for a life without Alzheimer's ? Absolutely......but it wouldn't have been nearly as rich a life.