It is estimated that as many as 5.1 million Americans may have Alzheimer 's. Alzheimer’s is a disease that virtually every old person prays that they will never be diagnosed with. Who wants a disease that slowly steals your brain? Love? Memory? Self esteem? But most importantly: independence. In B. Smith & Dan Gasby’s memoir Before I Forget, expresses the hardship of living with Alzheimer’s, but no matter what, Dan & B. need to have patience and hope. At the same time, Gasby believes that one day there will be a cure for Alzheimer’s, perhaps not in B.’s time but it will happen. By all means, B. & Dan need one gift: hope. Hope that everything will be adequate, hope that they will both remain strong through this heartbreaking disease. Gasby hopes
…show more content…
Meanwhile, twenty-two years into Dan & B.’s marriage, B. is diagnosed with a disease called Alzheimer’s. Through all hardship Dan will always love and care for B. until the last day. Gasby implies that Alzheimer’s is one of the toughest diseases to have and be married too. Gasby explains deeply that since his wife, B., was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he feels their marriage is going turmoil, but he refuses to give up. “We had been together more than 20 years. We’d never experienced an explosion like that” (21). Here, Gasby emphasizes how the marriage feels like it is going to come to an end because of the difficulties of the Alzheimer’s, or to note: frustration and not knowing how to cope with the disease properly, because B. refuses to have a caregiver come in her house and help around. Gasby tries his hardest to have more patience and hope with his wife, while Alzheimer’s is a heartbreaking learning experience for the both of them. B. is slowly losing her memory, day by day. How would you feel having to deal with Alzheimer’s on your own, just you and your spouse? In addition, Gasby’s explains to readers with personification and allusions about B.’s memory: “B.’s short term memory was shot” (41). Its clear to many, that when a person has Alzheimer’s, he or she will eventually lose all their memory. Gasby implies that B.’s memory was shot; it is there, but it no longer feels like her memory is available with words. It is obvious that B.’s memory was not literally shot, but it almost feels like it because, in most cases, when one gets shot in the head, he or she dies. And to Gasby, he feels that B.’s memory dead. While, he also perceives dead with all the stress the disease has caused B. and Gasby, “instead I went out on the deck in the dead of the night and just listened to the water lapping the shore” (113). Gasby implies that he goes to the shore to relieve stress, and the
Meanwhile, twenty-two years into Dan & B.’s marriage, B. is diagnosed with a disease called Alzheimer’s. Through all hardship Dan will always love and care for B. until the last day. Gasby implies that Alzheimer’s is one of the toughest diseases to have and be married too. Gasby explains deeply that since his wife, B., was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he feels their marriage is going turmoil, but he refuses to give up. “We had been together more than 20 years. We’d never experienced an explosion like that” (21). Here, Gasby emphasizes how the marriage feels like it is going to come to an end because of the difficulties of the Alzheimer’s, or to note: frustration and not knowing how to cope with the disease properly, because B. refuses to have a caregiver come in her house and help around. Gasby tries his hardest to have more patience and hope with his wife, while Alzheimer’s is a heartbreaking learning experience for the both of them. B. is slowly losing her memory, day by day. How would you feel having to deal with Alzheimer’s on your own, just you and your spouse? In addition, Gasby’s explains to readers with personification and allusions about B.’s memory: “B.’s short term memory was shot” (41). Its clear to many, that when a person has Alzheimer’s, he or she will eventually lose all their memory. Gasby implies that B.’s memory was shot; it is there, but it no longer feels like her memory is available with words. It is obvious that B.’s memory was not literally shot, but it almost feels like it because, in most cases, when one gets shot in the head, he or she dies. And to Gasby, he feels that B.’s memory dead. While, he also perceives dead with all the stress the disease has caused B. and Gasby, “instead I went out on the deck in the dead of the night and just listened to the water lapping the shore” (113). Gasby implies that he goes to the shore to relieve stress, and the