Memories

I took this picture of the taped up box to represent my mum's memory, it is full of pictures but you can't open it.

My mum has vascular dementia and has lost almost all her memory. I see her every 3 or 4 days and she always looks relieved to see me and tells me there is something important she must ask me but has forgotten what it is. I think she thinks I can connect her to her past which of course I cannot, although I wish I could.

Funny what sticks in the mind though, she can recall all the London Underground network and knows most of the North London bus routes.

One of the few upsides of losing your memory is that everything is always new! She has a membership to nearby Bristol Zoo and goes at least once a week, but it's always the first time and always great!

Kind people (who take her out every week) who she has never met before take her out and she always enjoys hearing about them and their families.

To live in the moment is not necessarily a bad thing, but so much of who we are is tied up in our history and now I don't really know who she is anymore as much as she doesn't really know who I am.