This is the tank with Daddy sitting on the monument. It was blown up a few days after the photo was taken and Daddy said it was his outfit that did it. They were combat engineers and would have had the explosives.
Posted on 08/30/2016 5:22:31 PM PDT by Bigg Red
Eighty year old Ted McDermott has been entertaining most of his life and was well known for singing in clubs around England. His nickname – The Songaminute Man – was given to him because of his incredible ability to remember so many songs. In the past few years his memory has deteriorated as he battles Alzheimer’s, but the songs remain.
Simon McDermott, 40, uploaded dashcam video of him and his dad, 80-year-old Ted, driving around and singing. “In the last few years his memory has deteriorated a lot – often not recognising family and with many aggressive episodes. When we’ve got him singing again he’s back in the room. It’s these moments that we treasure,” McDermott explained on the fundraising page he set up for the Alzheimer’s Society. The duo has raised more than $100,000 so far.
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(Excerpt) Read more at scarymommy.com ...
Music is an amazing thing for the brain.
May God be with this family as they deal with the ravages of Alzheimer's.
Amazing.
Beautiful.
Bravo!
Awesome.
Sweet!
Thank god and Thank you for posting this! Not only am I sick of politics but I forwarded your post to 2 families I personally know that are dealing with this same thing!
Wow, that was so touching. Bless this man for using this small victory (even if it’s temporary) to help raise money for Alzheimer’s Society.
At the Hershey Penn car show, my dad, who was well into Alz, walked up to a car. He looked, and said, Now that, son, is a rare car. You will never see another like it, anywhere. We talked to the man displaying it. It was the only car of that make and model in the world. I don’t know how he knew, but he did.
Daddy was in a nursing home. He was 90 and definitely losing his memory. He was aware enough to know he was and tried to conceal it.
Still he really could not recall much at all. I decided to bring some of his old WWII pictures to see if it would bring back memories. Actually they were mostly just after the war and in Berlin as he didn’t get a camera until the war ended.
I showed him a photo of the first Russian tank to enter Berlin and he immediately chuckled and told me a story about it that he had never mentioned before. It only lasted a couple of minutes but he was there again for a little while.
Very moving.
There was a woman with my MIL at the home with Alzheimer’s. She was a Baptist and sang in the choir most of her life, She remembered the tunes but not the words. When we’d visit she’d would do the melodies and dah, dah da-ah dah....it was cute.
This is the tank with Daddy sitting on the monument. It was blown up a few days after the photo was taken and Daddy said it was his outfit that did it. They were combat engineers and would have had the explosives.
At least your dad calls you son. I am pretty mad at my mom’s doctor. He hasn’t told us that she has Alzheimer’s yet, only dementia, but my mom does not know that I am her daughter anymore. It is really hard to realize your own mom doesn’t recognize you, and has no idea of who you are or how you have a connection. None. Pray for me, FReepers. I am devastated sometimes by this realization. Other times I regain composure. I am the first of her six children that she doesn’t recognize (fifth in birth order). I’m sure she will forget the rest soon, but I am the first to deal with the loss in this fashion.
My m-i-l had dementia as well and while she did not reach that stage at the time she passed, which is almost a year ago, we could see it coming.
It’s brutal watching someone deteriorate that way.
With all due respect and compassion to those who have to endure that, I have been praying that God would spare me that end, that He’d take me quickly some other way.
Don’t take any of it personally. She doesn’t know what she is doing and in her more lucid moments, hates what is happening to her, too.
Take the good moments as they come and rejoice in those and take the rest as it comes and know that you are NOT alone in this kind of situation.
God bless you.
As each song ends she drifts back into a very flat affect - near catatonic state. She responds with simple yes or no to questions but is otherwise non-conversant. She eats very little, insisting she is full after only a couple bites - often forgetting she ordered the selected menu items and has a great deal of difficulty doing/enjoying the routine tasks she used to enjoy. She mostly falls asleep during movies in the theater, but it is one of the few activities she still tolerates well outside of her daily routine.
Sadly, she is not interested in visiting our home to watch films together...too much activity in a large family household with pets upsets her. The theater, on the other hand, is dark and quiet except for the film.
Physically, she is otherwise healthy...as was apparent in the video clip of this man's father - who seemed otherwise delightfully vibrant when singing. It is so sad to see someone who looks so normal devolve into a shell of who they used to be.
God bless this family for helping their dad endure and seek out life pleasantries as they all face such a demanding and at times, demeaning challenges during their dad's golden years.
Thank you. Even knowing that others have been in my shoes before me helps. Right now, it is my burden to bear. There are times she realizes that something is wrong with her brain, but she can’t sort it out. It does make her sad and somewhat depressed, other times she’s agitated. I am trying to take it day by day.
You have to take it minute by minute.
Wee noticed the mood swings within minutes.
One day she was all depressed because we weren’t including her in things and 15 minutes later she had forgotten it.
Not to mention that when we did invite her, she always turned us down.
It was a Catch 22. There was no way to win.
One thing that helped was getting her to talk about her past. She still had great long term memories and if you showed her old pictures, the things she could tell us about who the people were and what they did were amazing.
It helps to have that to connect with and if you’re into family history, write some of it down as she tells you.
Also there are support groups for people in your shoes.
They have a lot of good information about what they are going through and what to expect and what you can do to deal with it on all levels.
We learned a lot through them.
You should consider connecting with one. Yes, I know that time is at a premium when caring for someone, but it is well worth it for what you can glean from it to make it easier on everyone.
Yes, he seems like such a nice young man.
(And this old lady finds him very handsome. AAMOF, I did a search on his name to see if he was some movie star, as I am not familiar with most of the names in that business.)
And it’s amazing how those bits of knowledge come out even in the midst of their mental confusion.
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