it was interesting that over the past few days, mum had consistently asked me to bring her to the second floor garden to chat. and she would also ask that i bring along some mandarin oranges to eat during the chat. it was certainly good to be able to chat with her. and each session would last an hour plus. invariably, the chat always revolved around the same themes. she would tell me her stories - stories about her life when she was younger, stories of her courtship days with my dad, stories of sibling rivalries, etc. and i really enjoy these sessions. it is not often that i get to talk about such stuff with mum and it gives me an interesting perspective of lives in the old days.
interestingly, i also noted one extra observation - over the past weeks, mum has been having a lot of dreams of people who have passed away. these include dreams about my dad coming home, laying beside her, talking to her, wanting to take her to the hospital, etc. and she would also dream about my grandpa & my grandma (her parents) coming to talk to her, or simply sitting by her side. i find these dreams interesting. but to someone who is superstitious, he/ she would probably think that my dad or my grandparents have been visiting my mum with the eventual intentions of taking her with them. as for me, i am not superstitious. my take is that these dreams are manifestations of mum's mental state and her worsening dementia. and i think it is a pretty common occurence amongst the elderly sick. these dreams also make very good talking points when we sit down and chat at the garden. and i would use these talking points to incorporate questions and messages to make her talk out any thing that worries her, and to evoke her to think deeper into things. i believe these methods would provide her with some mental stress relieve (or whatever worries she might have), and also provide her some with mental exercise that hopefully, will slow down her dementia process. at her age, i think it is also good to help her have closure to any issues she might still have.
and as for me, it is simply quality time with her. and all i can say is that this is priceless.
:-)
interestingly, i also noted one extra observation - over the past weeks, mum has been having a lot of dreams of people who have passed away. these include dreams about my dad coming home, laying beside her, talking to her, wanting to take her to the hospital, etc. and she would also dream about my grandpa & my grandma (her parents) coming to talk to her, or simply sitting by her side. i find these dreams interesting. but to someone who is superstitious, he/ she would probably think that my dad or my grandparents have been visiting my mum with the eventual intentions of taking her with them. as for me, i am not superstitious. my take is that these dreams are manifestations of mum's mental state and her worsening dementia. and i think it is a pretty common occurence amongst the elderly sick. these dreams also make very good talking points when we sit down and chat at the garden. and i would use these talking points to incorporate questions and messages to make her talk out any thing that worries her, and to evoke her to think deeper into things. i believe these methods would provide her with some mental stress relieve (or whatever worries she might have), and also provide her some with mental exercise that hopefully, will slow down her dementia process. at her age, i think it is also good to help her have closure to any issues she might still have.
and as for me, it is simply quality time with her. and all i can say is that this is priceless.
:-)
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