My mom told me today that a guy with Alzheimer's, somewhere in CT recently, took a hammer to his wife and killed her. She was shocked and appalled that the man was arrested. Did she honestly think they'd put him in jail? I'm sure he's in a nursing home or some similar facility. Unfortunately, I could not find more details on the story. Instead I found two other stories, heartbreaking in their similarities.
The first one is a few months old, but I didn't see it earlier: Killer of Alzheimer's wife held. The gist: a 77 year old man, whose 82 year old wife was in a nursing home with advanced AD, walked into the nursing home and shot her in the head and chest in front of everyone and then called the police and turned himself in. This is after 8 years of watching her deteriorate. I cry for him, because I don't blame him one bit. (screenprint) My dad only lasted 3 1/2 years. Five more years of that and I might have felt like shooting him, poisoning him, anything to make his (and my) pain stop.
This one is even worse, if that's possible. No charges against elderly man in shooting death. In this story, an old man with AD killed his wife and then went searching for her.
Drew Waldron, 87, ...shot his wife, Theria Waldron, also 87, once in the head with a handgun some time before 5:30 a.m. on March 28. The woman's body was found in the master bedroom of the couple's home ....The day of the shooting, Waldron was seen by staff of a nearby convenience store. They reported to deputies that he appeared confused. Responding deputies said Waldron reported that his wife was missing and when they accompanied him home, the deputies found the woman's body.
After reviewing his medical history, they had him put into a nursing facility and not charged. (screenprint)
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What I want to know is, will stories like this ever not make me cry?
Living in the Shadow of Alzheimers
4 years ago
3 comments:
Bert,stories like this SHOULD make you cry. I think we often want to get back to "normal," but that would negate the meaning of what we and our parents have gone through. I think blogging about stories like this is a good way to acknowledge the suffering people go through - much better than sweeping it under a rug. Keep up the good work...
Mona
The Tangled Neuron
How sad.Keep blogging in this way it would be nice if u post some tips to cure Alzheimer.
I'm with Mona, I hope stories like this never "not make" you, or me, cry. As well, we need these stories, so that we continue to cry as long as we need to.
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