Thank you, Senator Baroni

by: Thurman Hart

Wed Dec 23, 2009 at 06:09:09 PM EST

I don't remember exactly when my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  As far back as I can remember, she had a shoddy memory.  But things got progressively worse, and finally one of my cousins converted her garage into a bedroom so Grandma wouldn't be on her own.  Of course, that meant leaving behind the house my grandfather built with his own hands - where she had given birth to two of her five kids.  But Grandma was a strong woman and I can almost see her shrugging and folding her hands in front of her and saying, "Well, I reckon that it's time to be moving along."

My grandmother lived for more than a decade with my cousin.  Most of those years were pretty good...as long as Grandma stayed on her regular schedule.  For instance, she could remember that she walked her dog around the block at exactly 2:24 because it took twelve minutes and at 2:36 my cousin's children got home from school and then Grandma would meet them at the door, give them a hug, and take them inside for cookies and milk.  It worked really well until the day that the kids got home and Grandma wasn't waiting.  After a few minutes, they took a quick walk around the block and then called their mom when they couldn't find Grandma.

The good news is that they found my Grandma about eight o'clock that night - she was walking along the highway about half a mile out of town, carrying her little wiener-dog that had gotten tired long ago.  When the police asked if she was okay, she admitted she was a little tired but she was afraid that she had lost her car and William (my deceased grandfather) would be mad because dinner wasn't on the table.  Fortunately, the only thing wrong with her (other than the confusion) was that she was very tired and very thirsty (she had walked nearly eight miles in heat that was hovering around ninety-five degrees).  

A few days later, one of my cousin's neighbors came by to check on her and admitted that he had seen her that day.  Her dog had pulled away from her and run across the street.  When she went to get him back, she became confused because she wasn't used to being on that side of the street.  She stood there about ten minutes, then took off walking.  Of course, no one knew that she had decided she needed to go back to that little house in the country that Granddaddy had built.  

We were very fortunate.  After a bit of rest and re-hydration, Grandma was fine.  But it was the first episode that led to her having to be put into a full-care facility.  Eventually, Grandma would pass away at the age of eighty-eight - two days after I told her that my wife and I were expecting what would be her fourteenth and fifteenth great-grandchildren.  Of all the blessings in my life, my love of my Grandma ranks near the top.

So, on behalf of my Grandma - and my cousin who took care of her for so long - I want to thank Senator Bill Baroni for the Silver Alert initiative that will help families locate their elderly members when they become disoriented and lost.  Such common-sense measures help restore my faith in government, that it can actually be the servant of the people.