Alice

My grandma lives in a nursing home, in the Alzheimer's unit.  The residents on that side are a little better of physically, but their minds are long gone.  On one hand, it's really depressing, if you think about it too much.  But on the other, it's fascinating.  It's easy to see how these residents really identify with themselves.  My grandma was a business woman, and she still is.  She is clearly the boss lady in the lunch room:)  One man was a mechanic in his youth and the nurses will find him under the tables tinkering on, what he believes to be, a car.

One lady named Alice, is very clearly a mother.  She was a homemaker when she was young and being a mother was her career.  She has a doll that she carries everywhere and she believes, with every ounce of her being, that this doll is her child.  Her baby.  She nurses it, burps it, puts it down for naps.  It's endearing, but incredibly sad at the same time.

Earlier today, Alice was in a state because she didn't have any socks for her baby and the baby's feet were getting cold.  She was beside herself.  She had put the baby down on the table and was frantically trying to cover it's feet.  Mom felt terrible for Alice because that doll isn't just a doll, it's her child.  And her child's feet were cold.

So off to the store we went, to get some tiny baby socks.  She found a two pack of socks for  $1.88 and went flying back to The Gardens to give them to Alice.  She had to have some help as she has lost the dexterity to put tiny socks on a doll, but she was so grateful to have them.  Mom said you could tell she felt so much better now that she had some socks.   It was $1.88 well spent.