Her Home Is In My Heart

Despite my mother's diagnosis of Alzheimers Disease, my parents went ahead with their retirement plans prior to my mom's diagnosis and moved to Nicaragua to retire. I was in the airport about to leave to come back to the States after a visit with my parents, and I was struggling to say goodbye to mom, when my mom looks at me and says: "I will be BRAVE and you will be BRAVE and all will be well."

These words came out effortlessly, whereas most of the time my mom struggles to find her words.

The key is a reminder to me that we that we all can be BRAVE in difficult situations and do hard things. Walking alongside my mom as she is losing her memory has been one of the hardest things I have ever done. Her words remind me that I can be BRAVE and learn to let her go because, even if she is not emotionally or physically with me, her home is in my heart and she has never really left my side.

I plan on passing my key to someone who is losing someone they love to Alzheimer's Disease because they, too, can be BRAVE and learn that the person they are losing can also live with them forever in their heart.

-Carrie