Introduction

Living with a parent with Alzheimer’s is never easy. Nancy Reagan accurately called it "the long good-bye." When the person with
Alzheimer’s is a parent, there is a special challenge--the parent becomes the child, and the child assumes the role of parent. It is a delicate balancing act that changes on a daily basis. Each person assuming the role of care-giver has to find a way to cope. My coping mechanism is to laugh--to find humor where ever it can be found. It's not that I don't respect my father or grieve over his lost past. But I have to laugh to keep from crying. Maybe by sharing the humor I find, I can help others to cope also.

Not only does Dad have Alzheimer’s, he also has macular degeneration and is legally blind. An avid reader all of his life, he tries to continue by "reading" the headlines of the newspaper, titles of magazine article, and text from TV ads. This morning, the newpaper carried the story about a hostage in Iraq being beheaded. In a very serious tone, Dad noted the event and gave what he thought was a profound insight, "It's a bad thing that happened in Iraq. It's kind of hard to live without a head."