I recently wrote about Uncle Alan as I remembered the life he lived.
Today, July 20th, is my maternal grandmother’s birthday. Nana was born in 1904. Although I remember her fondly, it’s something else that comes to mind when I think of her. Alzheimers.
Research conducted shows that, in 2019, there were over 850,000 people with dementia in the UK (Alzheimer’s Society, 2019). This represents 1 in every 14 of the population aged 65 years and over.
These days there is a lot of help and information about dementia and Alzheimers.
Nana was always eccentric, something that we felt became worse the older she got. We always assumed that her eccentricity was linked to dementia, but I can find nothing to prove that.
As a child I learnt that if you did something wrong, she would not let you forget it. Her tirade went on for days. Her poor husband, my grandfather, known to us as Papa always had the brunt of it.
I loved my Nana. She and Papa lived in Oswestry and volunteered for many organisations around the town. Staying over at their house was fun and interesting. Nana had a wonderful sense of humour, often making me giggle. We went on some wonderful rides around the Oswestry area, and she took me along to her fundraisers at the local church.
Nana’s occasional crazy behaviour became more frequent as she aged. When Papa died, she barely registered his passing. We watched her gradually deteriorate. The nana we loved became difficult and aggressive. In her final years, her youngest daughter, Mavis, gave her the 24-hour care she needed until she passed away at eighty-seven years of age.
Auntie Mavis spent her life fostering children and had an assortment of animals. She always had the urge to write her memoirs.
When Other People’s Children came out on Amazon in 2018, I learnt Nana’s eccentricity was also present when she raised her own children.
The book covers Mavis’s early years, her career as a foster parent, and ends with becoming a carer for her mum.
Back then there was very little available on Alzheimers and I don’t think being a Carer was even recognised.
Mavis’s book has had many great reviews both in the UK and the US. Take a look….
Karen J. Mossman 