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.

Excerpts from CURTIS An Alzheimer’s Story by Lessie Culpepper Hagen,
An ASN publication, c.1988. All Rights Reserved.

“CAREGIVER’S CORNER” insert for ASN NEWSLETTER v22n1, Fall 2010.