Love
in the senior years: A true inspiration to me. My parents are married over
sixty years as of this writing. Sixty years of ups and downs, good health and
bad, happiness and sadness. But one thing remains: a steadfast love. It is this
love that inspired me to write; theirs, and another couple: my husband’s
elderly aunt and uncle.
You
see, when I was a little girl, my mother suffered from mental illness. There
were times in her delusion when she barely knew who she was, much like
Alzheimer’s. It wasn’t easy and she was hospitalized many times. That is why
her recent diagnosis of dementia has been very difficult to take. But as I saw
when I was a child, my father puts all of my mother’s needs first. At complete
disregard for his own comfort, he would do anything for Mom. He’s remained by
her side, loyal, loving, respectful, treating her as if she’s the young beauty
he first married so long ago.
I
saw another great love. Louise, my husband’s aunt, had a stroke several years
back and was hospitalized and eventually moved into a nursing home. Her
husband, Hubert, took the time every single day driving to see her, helping her
to eat, talking with her even though she couldn’t speak well, and making sure
every need of hers was met. There came a time he couldn’t drive any longer, and
he would wait as the senior bus picked him up, not missing one day with his
wife. When he suffered his own health crisis, he ended up in the same care
facility. Though they weren’t in the same room, Uncle Hubert would wheel himself
down the hall to spend time with his beloved each and every day.
Hubert
and Louise didn’t have many family members, so I became a regular visitor of
theirs. I watched as love appeared to grow even stronger as Hubert sat by his
wife’s side, gazing upon her as if she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever
seen, and talking to her as if she was the only person in the world who
mattered.
It was then that a story began forming in my
mind. What if an older couple actually met for the first time in an assisted
living center? What if a warm friendship was forged, and eventually led to
love? My book Love Woven in Time was
born.
It
chronicles the lives of Harry and Rose, two people who meet in the golden
years, both with their own sets of challenges, but the main one being Harry’s
onset of dementia. It was carefully written with the help of a dementia coach
and author, Carol Howell, and with thoughts of my parents and my husband’s
uncle and aunt, giving a story that is tender, believable, and written from the
heart.
Though
Hubert and Louise have passed, I am blessed to still have my parents. I
continue to watch, grow, and learn from them about true love. A bond that
cannot be broken. Even with the ravages of time, age, and memory loss.
Connect with Karen
Malena at:
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