Giving Kisses..one of the few remaining motor acts of an Alzheimer’s victim

Every so often I happen upon something relevant to our site that makes me pause to process it’s significance.

I know that Alzheimer’s is a dreadful disease – stripping a person down to almost nothing but an empty shell.   However, although we might think there is nothing left, and that the well of emotion and connectedness is dry – there can be a moment shared that has deep meaning between the victim and a loved one.

Still Giving Kisses – a book described on occupational therapist, Barbara Smith’s website that I found this week talks about the author’s mother – and one of the few remaining motor acts that she was able to perform – giving kisses – reflecting the title of the book.

I haven’t read the book yet – I hope to – but the title really struck me, and got me thinking –

Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s can drown a caregiver with legal demands, bureaucratic issues, and personal exhaustion.

However, if the caregiver (usually a son and/or daughter) can try to always be on the lookout for “kisses” – in whatever manifestation  – the human side of the Alzheimer’s gauntlet might not be forgotten.