I’m Happy She Still Knew I Was Her Daughter at My Wedding Despite Alzheimer’s

We were originally supposed to get married in May of 2008.

But, when it was clear that my mother’s early onset Alzheimer’s disease was progressing rapidly, we moved the wedding up by four months.

I’m happy she still knew I was her daughter at my wedding despite Alzheimer’s disease.

Fifteen years ago today, on January 12, 2008, we got married, while my mom still knew I was her daughter.

A few months later, we were glad we had made the date change.

She became increasingly confused about where she was and started to wander more and more frequently.

She started to confuse me with other women.

She thought my husband was my brother.

She started calling my dad, her own husband, “Daddy,” which is what she had always called her father.

By August, we made the difficult decision to place my mother in a memory care and assisted living facility.

We then moved her into the secure wing of a nursing home, because she was considered a flight risk.

Eventually, she didn’t know me at all.

She forgot how to feed herself, how to toilet herself, how to walk, how to swallow, and, ultimately, how to breathe.

But fifteen years ago today, at my wedding, she still knew I was her daughter.

A version of this post was originally published January 12, 2021.