Alzheimers through 10 year old eyes

McKinley was given an assignment to choose a photograph from home and then write a paper about it. She chose this one.:

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It is from an outing with her Great Grandmother that she affectionately calls, "Gigi". Gigi has had Alzheimers for many years now. Watching her progressively get worse, forget things, repeat herself and now have her personality changed in relatively drastic ways has been a real challenge for Kiki (as well as all my children, to comprehend. There were many summers we would spend taking Gigi out on "outings" to give her a day away from the group home setting she moved to in 2008. The kids loved to taker her to lunch and then to get her hair done or maybe window shopping a the mall. Gigi loved it too. Now, unfortunately, it is too hard to do even that. Here is a memory of one of those outings in McKinley's own words:

Am I having lunch with Gigi or Alzheimers?

Will she remember my name?

Maybe I should just listen.

I basically blocked out the whole lunch except for dessert.

"Mmmm", I moaned immediately after i bit into delicious red and blue jello with a tower of whipped cream on top.

Luby's cafe was my favorite when it came to jello.

Before, Gigi said she was not even hungry.

It was funny that her plate left not one bite.

I'll bet in 30 minutes she will forget that we ate.

I was happy to have lunch with her but where was she?

Where was her real smile?

Where was her laugh?

Where was the real her?

How does the sky fell so gray when it's bright blue?

I hope one more time I can see the real her.