( Hint of a Cinema Spoiler )

( How a Commercial Led Me to a Book )

It surprised me that my aunt had not complained of mouth pain long before, since she is losing four teeth now as a result of not going to the dentist for five years.  After doing a little research, I found that a lessening of the perception of pain is part of the workings of dementia, whether by Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, or any other of the ( Read more... )

I could kiss the person who thought of Dance for Parkinson's.  My aunt is willing to go outside to her apartment complex's community center, now that the weather is nominally better.

After years of self-
imposed hiding, la vieja
now ventures outside.
Only around the corner,
true, but even that's a start.

I saw A Late Quartet with my aunt yesterday. Christopher Walken plays a cellist in a world-renowned string quartet. Said cellist is getting on in years. The quartet is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary season when he is diagnosed with the early stages of Parkinson's. Walken nails this to the point that I wondered whether he has it for real. ( Read more... )

Those days are gone when
we would speak of anything.
How fast the sunset!
Whither lessons for being
a parent to one's parent?

These are the rules if you are so inclined.

Upon seeing an elder relative after the storm has passed.

The divine wind has
stirred the sea. Humbled city!
You will rise again,
still more fortunate than those
who have been humbled by time.

Crosswalk signs are not timed for the elderly.  We started crossing exactly when the light changed.  I was between my aunt and three rows of cars on First when it began to blink.  It was red by the last row.  Someone got impatient with my aunt, and I got impatient back.  Thankfully, she did not see this.  This is not a good sign ( Read more... )

Seeing the slimmest sliver of moon appear, hard on the heels of a sunset.

See the splintered moon
revealed when the sun has set.
'Tis an upturned palm.
I would beg time return to
the days when you graced this world.

Spent a portion of the evening with my aunt, as much as part of me wanted so very much to be elsewhere.

The beggar woman's
bowl will soon be ( Read more... )

( Musings and a Cath-gnostic Rantlet, but Some Nice Things, Too )