Translated…
Dementia, like a tunnel you can’t turn around in, the longer the time passed, the more you can’t find yourselves. And, the family members who looked after their loved ones with dementia are like that giant, Sisyphus that stacked up the rocks, no matter how hard he’d tried to stack those rocks up, the rocks still rolled back down, feeling the defeat, as well as the helplessness too.
After my aunt was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, she’d progressed quickly into the middle stages, and, my uncle became the one she’d clung on to. And, nobody was allowed to sit next to her, save for my uncle; nobody was allowed to touch her, only my uncle could. And, just like so, my aunt and uncle became Siamese twins, wherever my uncle went, my aunt followed, this became very burdensome for my uncle.
Whenever I’d visited my aunt, my uncle would always excuse himself, to run some small errands outside of the house, buying himself a pack of cigarettes, paying the bills; in my view, all of these small matters, he could ask us to help out with, but, my uncle insisted on doing them all on his own, it’d become, confusing to me.
Waited until I’d visited my aunt many more times, I’d finally understood the purpose behind my uncle’s going to handle these smaller matters. After he’d returned from running the errands, he’d had that look of relaxation, and a slight smile, I think, that, must be the least amount of relaxation that he’d gotten in his life.
Like awhile ago, it’d, drizzled on, and finally, the sun came back out, and, the housewives started doing the laundries; and, my uncle, only when I visited, had the chance, of heading outside, to get some fresh air, to see the world outside, to get some sun over his heavy and darkened mind………
It’s not only for the families of the demented, any family member who needs to care for loved ones with illnesses, don’t forget, to find the chances, to allow some sun into your mind, to let the warmth of the sunshine in, that way, you’d all have enough energies, to care for those who needed you to look after them.
And so, this, is how the man found ways, to get a breather, because taking care of his demented wife is really difficult, as the small things in life all became too complicated, and too difficult for the woman to handle, and so, when the writer visited, the man found his chance, to get out of the house, which was exactly what he’d needed, and even if he’d only gotten that chance to step outside for a quick breath, it was, enough, after all, we ALL need to have our breaks, from the trials from our day to day living, don’t we???
Life, the Obstacle Course 