It seems that every family has a story about how one of their parents came home to live with them in their old age. This is becoming more and more common in our society as baby boomers get older and health care and home care costs skyrocket. Not long ago, I read a very interesting story by Priscilla Hodgkins titled; “Einstein did not dream of my mother”, and I would like to recommend this story to you because it is a reality check on how the mind tends to slow down as people age.

This story tells of a mother whose memories, wishes, and dreams were often mixed up in her mind. Sometimes what she says doesn’t make sense to anyone listening, but she tells the stories over and over again. Her dreams are vivid and realistic, and she enjoys them as much as her waking state. She forgets things, and you have to remind her the next day, and in this story the mother has several strokes, sometimes they come in clusters, and sometimes they come one by one. This true life story tells of the ambulance rides and the absolute terror of the family worried that her mother had her last stroke, that this could be the end.

Today, of course, scientists are doing their best with public funding of research dollars to solve some of these challenges of the aging mind, but that won’t help people today, or people who They have finally put the past behind them. As one loses their mind, their memories become vague, more confused, and eventually they lose the ability to move their bodies, speak, swallow, and even eat. These are difficult times to see a loved one grow old and senile. However, many of us will not be as sharp-minded in those final days, days that may turn into weeks, months, years, or even a decade or more under the care and supervision of family.

For anyone going through this right now, this is a great short story to read. It could also help people understand what they will face in the future when a parent comes back to live with them. The story was full of empathy, philosophy, and heartfelt emotion. It’s a great read, and while it’s fairly short, it certainly puts you in that place and time, something more common than ever in our society. In fact, I think you might really enjoy reading it. Please consider all of this.