Foodie Chickie

Dementia is a cruel disease. It takes away everything you have. Things that you and I take for granted. Being able to laugh at a silly show, brushing our teeth, feeding ourselves, recognizing loved ones. Yesterday before the Grammy’s Niel, his mom and I drove out to Brentwood, Long Island to visit a cousin once removed who now resides in a old nun’s home, on a special floor for nun’s who are afflicted with Dementia and Alzheimer’s. Nini as she is affectionately called, reminds me of a scared animal wearily looking at us. She would go back and forth speaking one minute in English and the next in Spanish (her native tongue), though never being able to construct complete sentences. I have only been part of my husband’s family long enough only to know Nini as she is now but the pictures on her wall proved that she once had so much light in her eyes. I hope no one ever ends up alone, old and a shell of their former selves.