Hi my name is Cathy, and I’m going to share with you my story about dementia. My sweet mother started having some very noticeable memory issues maybe about three years ago. I aggressively started looking for a place for her to live up here in Washington DC because she was isolated living alone in Texas. She agreed to the idea; she was very thankful at the idea of living near a child but she thought, you know, we'll see in a couple years see how I’m doing. But there was no time to wait a couple years, she was not safe being alone. So now I have a roommate!
I'm all she has, so everything is on me. I work full-time, it's a lot. I've been so blessed to be able to participate in Insight’s virtual caregiver classes. Who knew I’d be thankful for the pandemic! This is my silver lining: that I’m able to participate so easily since I’m working from home. I have the privacy and the flexibility to get to participate.
My mom now participates in the memory café. We've been doing that for a couple of months and she loves it, she laughs the whole time! She thinks it's so much fun. I never have to coax her. She is also doing the Reconnections program, and again, she loves it! She loves the homework; she's so intent, if there's anything else going on I’ve learned don't put the homework in front of her because she's totally focused on it. She has mental stimulation from the safety of our own home. She can't catch the virus over zoom, so it's just been wonderful for her.
With her doing the programs, me doing the support group and classes, Insight has made a huge impact and I’m just so grateful. Dementia is a whole new world - you don't know what you don't know. But the more I learn, I’m just so very thankful that I’ve discovered Insight and the wealth of knowledge and tools they have to help me and my mom.
