Caregiver Corner
The Blessing
Excerpts from
CURTIS An Alzheimer’s Story by Lessie Culpepper Hagen,
An ASN publication, c.1988. All Rights Reserved.
Before eating the wholesome meals that Georgia had prepared during all their
fifty-seven years of married life, Curtis has always given thanks to the Lord.
To me his blessings were like an echo of my fathers’s voice, because the works
were the same familiar ones which we had heard when we were children. “We
thank Thee for this food. Bless it to the good of our bodies. Forgive us our sins
and save us for Jesus’ sake. Amen”
It was a lifelong habit for Curtis, and even with his progressive loss of memory,
he continued to bow his head, close his eyes, and ask a blessing before each
meal. The words, however, were not the remembered litany.
Sometimes he paused for a moment as if wondering what he should do—or say.
He knew something was expected of him but wasn’t sure just what. Then
usually his memory would prod him into some sort of prayer: “Thanks for the
good night’s rest;” “We will all find a home;” or “There are trials and
problems.”
Sometimes it turned out to be a long disconnected prayer about many
disconnected things. We had no idea what Curtis was talking about, but we
were comforted by believing that the Lord understood every word.
“CAREGIVER’S CORNER” insert for ASN NEWSLETTER v22n1, Fall 2010.
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