My mom was moved to a nursing home a few weeks ago. Alzheimer’s has taken its toll on her. She no longer knows who I am. It’s a damn shame that we make people suffer through it. She almost passed a year ago from a heart issue, and not to be cold, but most of the family was hoping it’d just come to a peaceful end for her. I love my mother and hate to watch her suffer. It’s an awful disease.

She has 3 sisters. One already died from Alzheimer’s. One of the other sisters has it as bad as my mother. The last sister has no trace of it. What’s the difference? Life choices. None of them smoked or drank. But the symptom free sister exercises regularly, eats well and is very socially active. She made me a true believer that it’s a preventable disease. My mother was rather sedentary and loved chocolate.

I’m not sure why we can put down a family pet when the time is right, yet we force pain and suffering on our loved ones. It’s part of our culture that I truly do not agree with.