You've got a Friend in the BOG.

[IrishAyes]

20. To anyone who's family is affected by Alzheimer's,

My very best to you. I know to a degree what you're going through, because for years I cared for hospice patients, many of whom were so affected. One taught me a very important lesson; she was absolutely inconsolable until I bought a life-size baby doll and placed it in her arms. After that she calmed right down. All her long life she'd cared for children, and she still needed that connection. Since then of course I've learned that's a fairly common way to help female patients. But there might still be a lot of people unaware of that method, and so I'd like to pass it along here.

One of the things that still pains me is the memory of a male patient who could walk with a little guidance, but I'd been warned that when he returned to bedside, his knees would buckle so I'd better be ready to stop him from falling to the floor. He almost fought me every time. Then one night he found his voice: "I want to say my prayers!" he shouted. Well, after that I always found a way to lift him back up off the floor. But the thought that for months I'd stood between him and such a dearly held tradition haunts me a little even now.