I was taking something out to the recycling bin over the weekend when a neighbor walking by spoke to me. She said she has Alzheimer's so she wasn't driving anymore, but that fortunately someone was going to be able to address it surgically. Of course I didn't know exactly what to say, it's one of those rare types of conversations for which we really don't have a lot of experience of training. I just said I was happy she was going to get help and then turned the conversation over how a friend had said he might be able to bring a chainsaw and help with some of the enormous logs of hardwood laying around her yard that the electrical company's forester had left lying there when it took down a tree that was threatening a power line.
But inside I was a little freaked out. She is not much older than us, maybe in her mid-60s. It was just another one of those shots across the bow to remind me of my mortality. I am very used to wake up calls from cancer. This very weekend came the news that UNC's Eric Montross -- who has been such a gift not just to Be Loud! Sophie but also other parts of UNC's cancer center -- has cancer himself. Early onset Alzheimer's and/or dementia falls into another category altogether.
But, again, what is one to do? I did the only rational thing, I went inside and told Mary and then hugged her. I would have liked to have hugged Graham too, but he has COVID this week so I held off on that one. Beyond that, it's just another reminder to focus on health: exercise, eating better (always an area of potential improvement for me), sleep, laughter, talking to friends and family. I probably should have called mom; I'll do that sometime today.
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