Stories

Today is our wedding anniversary; my husband and I have been married for fifty years. Literally fifty years. We only knew each other two weeks when we got married. At the time, it seemed like a good idea. Apparently it still is because fifty years later, here we are. Sort of.

Even though we are married, we are not together. My husband has Alzheimer’s disease and lives in a memory care facility. I have heart disease and cannot care for him myself. It’s a real drag.

Alzheimer’s is a cruel disease – it’s a thief. It robs people of their cognitive processes, their memory, and their ability to function. Because of Alzheimer’s, I have lost my husband, and my husband has lost his stories.

My husband was always a great one for stories; he always knew where to find a laugh. He still does, but it’s more and more difficult for him to do so.

(He once told me that people like to think that their will is what God’s will would be if God could talk.)

So I tell stories to my husband – he loves it! As H. L. Mencken said, the world is enough to keep any reasonable person entertained for a lifetime. Thank you, world, for giving my husband so many things to laugh about.

We will sit by the river and tell our story until The End.