“But maybe every life looked wonderful if all you saw was the photo albums.” Liane Moriarty, WHAT ALICE FORGOT
Ahhhh…this quote has so many meanings. There is the obvious and how it applies to our lives and our children’s lives: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat…Is life always as amazing as it appears? Why do we judge someone’s life based on a snapshot of a moment in time? And yet, we want the white-washed version, don’t we? I can’t say I’ve ever heard anyone remark that they wished their FB friends would show them the bad. The horror! That might result in unfriending or blocking. The truth is that no snapshot–good or bad–can tell the whole story.
Deeper than that though is the reality that is Alzheimer’s and dementia. Life is this journey that can take our memory and erase it, little by little, until what we know is what someone tells us or what is in a photo. And then, it’s gone again. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been touched by someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia. Both are cruel, but Liane Moriarty handles the subject beautifully in WHAT ALICE FORGOT, showing us that there can be wonderful even in what looks like anything but.
When those close to me don’t remember, I may be amused, or sad, or frustrated, but always grateful that the journey isn’t over yet. And there is always the photo album…