Changed

Changed. Have you ever read Webster's definition? Oh, there are many entries - - my dictionary lists 32. Some of the definitions describe change for the better; some are substitutions; others refer to the transfer or removal of something or things. The change I witnessed yesterday was in my dear friend, Cassie, who has been stricken with the hideous disease: Alzheimer's. Oh, she seemed to know me and was happy that I had come to pay a visit, but she couldn't communicate on the level I have been accustomed to hearing. She viewed the photos I brought along of my grandchildren and told me over and over, "My, they are so cute. I just love babies." But when we looked at her photo album, there were many dear friends and relatives of hers that she no longer knew. She even asked me how old her first husband was when he died.

I stayed for a couple of hours. We had run out of little things to talk about. She could no longer focus on any subject. In fact, she fell asleep right in the middle of telling me something.

I love her dearly and it hurts to see her change.