Alzheimer's = Age-Time

This is something I posted on my own blog awhile ago, I just thought I'd re-post and start the blogging!

Every Sunday my family meets up at my parent's house; three generations of Prasad's eating, laughing, and enjoying life. As I watch our family interact, I can't help but notice how similar my aging father acts to my nine month old niece. His condition is Alzheimer's, hers is youth. Anyone that has been around Alzheimer's knows about the degeneration of the inflicted's mind, and childlike behavior that ensues. I go for walks with my father, and I answer the same question 20 times during the 30 minute walk. "Anita when are you getting married?" Soon Dad. I babysit Rekha, and I tell her not to put the remote control in her mouth 20 times. The same amount of patience, attention, and love is required in both settings.

In my parent's home, I'm constantly reminded of time. In this world, time is the only constant, everything else is changing. Time continues to move forward into the infinite, there is no stopping or rewinding it. We all age in the same increments, one year at a time. Though I think age has the ability to come full circle. A 65 year old, can behave like a nine month old. I'm beginning to understand that the only place that time has the ability to fast forward into the future, or rewind into the past is in our heads. I'm watching my Father revert to his village Hindi, a language he hasn't spoken in over 50 years, and I can see that he has gone back in time, to live in a different point in his life. I have heard of cases in Alzheimer's where the patient thinks he/she is 18 again, and decides to behave in that manner. Maybe there such a thing as time travel.

Though scientifically there is no method of physically going back in time, or jumping into the future, I have learned that you can make time stand still. When you are living in the moment, time will stand still...