transitions

Teaching my Alzheimer's patients today, the topic swung to children. The patients may be uncertain where their kids are, what they are up to, but they remember them, and list them with pride. So I gave them my heart, which aches right now with the departure of my one child to college. "You get used to it," said Paul, after long thought. "They are so much smarter than you, anyway. That's the point."

Painting with Alzheimer's

I teach painting at a local assisted living center: one afternoon a week at the Skilled Nursing Care Facility and once every other week in the Alzheimer's unit. 

 The chance to work closely, for an hour, with these people enriches my days.

 Some have painted all their lives, others have never held a brush. But almost everyone, once started, falls into the mystery that is observation, response, and paint on paper.