As I have grown up I never really had the hands on
experience seeing the elderly going through stages like cognitive decline.
However, outside of my family I was able to see it more so because of my
grandpa taking care of a former world war two pilot and seeing how his PTSD
(post traumatic stress disorder) affected him with what was already going on
like his inability to remember things and him missing a lot of what is being
said to him.
I had only
the experience above and also the experience of my great grandmother. She was a
holocaust survivor and about 97 years-old when I first met her. I was watched
as a child by her and I found it odd that she would go about what she was doing
in her own manner (due to my inability to realize people do things their own
way). I know she was suffering from alzeimers which made me rather
uncomfortable at times when she didn’t realize I was even over and a lot of
times her calling me Bart (grandpas name).
The amazing
thing about her cognition regardless of the decline was that she still spoke
German and English almost perfectly from what I could tell. As well as her
ability to be a very caring and loving individual to somebody so much younger
and remembering those things trapped in her mind from my grandpa being a child
and replaying those things with me (even though it was unintentional).
Your great grandmother sounds like an amazing woman. What a special experience it was for you to get to spend some time with her as you were growing up. I was also fortunate enough to know my great grandmother, who immigrated from Germany. When I was growing up, she always remembered my name and my oldest cousin's name. But, as other great grandchildren were born, she could not remember their names. She lived with my maternal grandparents, so I got to see her whenever we had holiday gatherings. All I can really remember is her raspy but warm voice as she spoke English with a German accent. I wish she was still alive today so I could ask her questions about the past. I think many children (as well as some teens and adults) are unable to appreciate or understand the life experiences of the elderly.
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