The Stories I Tell My Mother

Mom has Alzheimer’s disease; as a result, there are certain things she does not remember. One of the things that have slipped her mind is the death of her parents. Mom does not remember my Grandparents death or funeral.

Mom misses her parents. She wants to see them, but she does not know where they are and she cries because they do not live with us. To calm Mom down, I tell her stories about where they are. I do not mention that we buried them in Blackwell, Oklahoma, in the last century.

One of the stories I tell Mom, is that Grandpa sold the house and they moved into a retirement community that lets them travel all over the world. Yesterday, Mom came home crying and missing her parents. I told her they called from Israel. My Grandmother always wanted to visit the Holy Land and never got to; so I told Mom Grandpa took her on a trip to Israel and that they called to give her their love.