Sometimes people just get lucky and I am one of them. No, I am not breathtakingly beautiful, I am not married to a billionaire and I certainly did not hit the jackpot. I am lucky because I have seen, felt and experienced pure love. I never wanted to be a stay at home mother and I did not have to be because my in laws were immensely supportive and offered to take care of my baby girl, Sasha. Everything was perfect, until one day we got to know that my father in law had Alzheimer’s. There was nothing much we could do for him, since he was so old. But as they say, “there is nothing that love can’t triumph”. My 5 year old daughter came up with the idea of a picture album. The picture album had pictures of my father-in-law with everyone in my family, with their names on it. He and my daughter would diligently go through the picture book everyday. He once said, he did not go through the routine to recall and remember the names of the people he loved. He simply followed the routine, so that he would never forget those who mattered to him!

I am a 29 year old man at the early stage of Alzheimer’s. It came as a huge shock, but I am happy that the end is nowhere near and I am too young to despair. Finally, I have learnt what my mother has been trying to teach me since I was a little boy. Do not take anything for granted. Not life, not yourself, not your family. What keeps me going and motivated is that I refuse to believe that this is the end of the road. Yes my memory is weak, but I always carry my phones, my pocketbook and some pictures with me. I sometimes forget to call people, but thankfully they don’t. My ego no more stops me from asking for directions. What really works wonders for me is the weekly meetings and discussions with people who are already suffering from Alzheimer’s.The picture is not as gloomy as it seems. Yes, I am not as fast as I used to be, but I am still not out.

I was never an atheist, but then I was never a believer too. Faith, belief in God or in the superpower was too much for me to digest. I never lived, I simply existed. But, my late mother, she was a staunch believer. I have never met my father and was always close to my mother. And so, one day when she flung the plates and screamed that I had been starving her, it broke my heart. It was not long before that we realized she had Alzheimer’s and was at a very advanced stage. Nothing I would do would pacify her. She turned into a moody, recluse and angry old woman. And then it struck me, she had always been a devoted catholic, maybe God would help her. And so, I started taking her to the Church every morning and in a few weeks things were much better. Though she would forget who I was, and that she had had her meals, she was still my beautiful benign mother, I had always known. She is no more now, but I still go to the Church every morning only to thank God, for he helped my mother find peace when it seemed almost impossible.

It might be pretty shocking for you to hear me say this, but yes, I love my mother-in-law. We get along like a house on fire. The only sad thing is, she does not know my name. Not because my name is irrelevant or that I am unimportant, but because she has Alzheimer’s and she can’t help it. Every morning she greets me at the breakfast table as if she is meeting me after ages. Yes she never remembers my name, but I can see in her eyes that she loves me. We always loved each other’s company, but we never showed our love and affection for each other in such an open manner. Here is what I want to say, Alzheimer’s will make you forget the names of people, places and stuff, the way to the bathroom and what you were doing a minute ago, but it is not potent enough to make you forget who you love.

The worst part of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s is not that it has no cure but that it gets worse with time. I was always a fitness enthusiast and would go for regular morning walks. My family realized that something was amiss when I would go for, not one but many morning walks and would not remember having done so. As the old adage goes, “where there is a will, there is a way”, I have discovered ways to live with it. Today, a year since my diagnosis, I feel proud to say that I am still a fitness enthusiast and that I am not a liability. Yes, this could not have been done without the help from my understanding family and neighbors. I always carry a pocketbook and have finally bought a pet dog who accompanies me whenever I go for a walk. Honestly, I could not have found a more willing companion.