This personal photo series depicts intimate moments of my mother's struggle and decline from devastating Alzheimer's Disease. The most recent photo is a self-portrait. She no longer knows my name nor how to smile but, we somehow still share special moments together. We bring as much joy and music and laughter to her as we can.
After years of suspicion and concern, mom's diagnosis was not a surprise. Not to me, nor to my siblings. This didn't make the words spoken aloud any less shocking: "Your mother has Alzheimer's Disease". Soon after, we also learned that she was living with an undiagnosable massive infection. For years, she underwent excruciating testing and biopsies and lost too many days to the waiting rooms of multiple specialists and oncologists, each more perplexed than the last. My six siblings and I finally decided unanimously to cease all treatment and instead preserve the quality of life she has left. Our father passed away in 1991, so we are left to make such decisions on our own. Since her diagnosis, I've dedicated much of my time to caring for her and occasionally documenting our struggle. Here, I share a few photos from our journey. My latest update from June 2015: Mom has been on hospice for some time now. She's very very tired, however, mostly is seemingly peaceful. At some point last year, I recall she surprised me and said my name, it appears this would be the last time. That was one of my favorite days. We bring as much happiness, laughter, love and music as we can in her final days and I spend as much time as I can with her, because any moment now will be the last time I will ever see those beautiful blue eyes stare into mine. She is surrounded by all the things she loves, her family, my dog , my 4 1/2 year old niece who likes to visit in her dragon costume because she says it will "make grandma happy". My niece is also hopeful that grandma is going to grow her bones back so she can walk again. Just when I thought our "happy" visits were over, we continue to create beautiful memories.