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Shirley. Photo Credit : Barbara Stanifer |
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Barbara and her sister with Shirley. Photo Credit : Barbara Stanifer |
She wasn’t perfect by any means; she was flawed like all of us. I could tell you lots of stories of highs and lows. But the moment that is tugging at my memory today was a car ride she and my mom and I shared, a long ride through the mountains at one of her darkest hours. Alzheimer’s was slowly consuming Shirley’s brain, and one fateful night CB, her husband of some 68 years, fell. He hit his head and had to be helicoptered to a hospital 2 hours away. By the time my mom and I reached her, CB had been flown out and she was sitting with a neighbor obsessing over whether or not she had already fed the cats. She seemed oblivious to the weight of the situation, which was the one blessing of dementia. We scooped her up, packed some clothes for an undetermined amount of time and started on our 2-hour journey.
My mom and I took all our grief and fear and shoved it to the corners of our brain. We wanted her to stay in her oblivion, it would be much nicer there than in the harsh light of reality. We started down any number of random conversation topics trying to keep things light, there may have even been a laugh or two in there. And then with complete lucidity she said with that familiar glowy warmth, “You know CB loves you both so much. He may not ever recover from this and that will be so sad for all of us, but you are both so loved. You mean the world to me.” I was shocked by her clarity, by her calm in the face of what must have been a terrifying situation for her. But most of all I felt so completely wrapped in tenderness.
This woman, who saved us many times over, in her darkest hour wanted to make sure that WE knew we were loved. Her concern in that moment was for OUR well-being and here we thought we were protecting her. That is love that liberates…
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Love Liberates ! Photo Credit : Barbara Stanifer |
Story Credit And Photo Credit : Barbara Stanifer.
Barbara is an amazing storyteller and she has written for Chatoveracuppa before. She is very observant of the little things in life and treasures them the most as well, a reflection of which can be seen in all her stories. This is her personal story and pictures. We are so touched to be publishing this today on her behalf.
May 29, 2014 at 9:25 pm
A heartwarming narrative. Reminded me of my Alzheimer stricken paternal grand mom who blessed me in her temporary moment of lucidity, assured me that things will work out when I was losing all hope, when I thought my family was out to hurt and disown me.
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May 29, 2014 at 10:30 pm
Sukanya, your story is very similar to Barbara's. We have been so touched over here that we have been reading “Shirley” over and over again. And now your story. Love is truly liberating. We hope each one of us had that much capability of loving others.
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