This year’s Grammy awards were especially poignant; first there was the honoring of Whitney Houston whose tragic death happened the previous day, and then there was the moment Glen Campbell’s appearance. Almost a year ago Glen told the world that he was in the early stage of Alzheimer’s disease. When they invited him to the stage, I had this pang of fear, maybe he’d space out and forget the lyrics to his own songs. But he performed beautifully, no painful pauses, brought tears to my eyes. The following week he came to Phoenix; three of his kids were in the backup band, and you could feel his joy, when there was a pause the audience sang with him.
My fears about his performance were a projection of my own terrors. Getting old is bittersweet; we can appreciate our accomplishments, but we also have to come to peace with our limitations. The awareness that I was losing my mind has to be among my greatest fears. If (God forbid, ptui,ptui,ptui) I was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s, could I face that truth with Glenn’s courage; could I share my vulnerabilities that publicly, and could I find a way to come to every day with his joy
I want to get older like Glenn Campbell, to practice that kind of radical self-acceptance to:
- Own the truth of who I am now, and appreciate what I have left
- Let go of what I once thought I had to do, and be, in order to feel good about myself.
- Get out of my head where fear dwells and emphasizes my losses
- Get into my heart, sing my song as long as I can because this is where I feel fully alive
Thank you Glenn Campbell for showing me how you play your hand. You inspire me to tell my stories as long as I can find an audience… who I hope will help me when I lose my way.
Beautiful…. absolutely beautiful.
Beautiful! Absolutely Beautiful
Carl, if you ever got Alzheimers, your beautiful red head would be your care giver.
There, that should make you feel better already.
Russ
Who says you HAVE to lose your way ?? I hope to keep on truckin’ until i hit the final door—Hopefully at Last Chance with Elaine or the gem show with the girls…and if you have lost your way we will drag you along with us kicking and screaming all the way..
I want to get old like Glenn too!
Thanks All… and I am truly blessed to be cared for by heads of all colors
and if you ever did get Alzheimers, think of all the new friends you’d meet. daily. thank you for the reminder to not only be grateful but present. ; )
At the age of 71 and as a potential “inheritor” of Alzheimers, the “threat” and the “promise” of this dreaded illness has been circling around me for more than 25 years.
I call it a threat because my mother, her sister and my grandmother have all died of it. But, like the popular song by George Gershwin sung by the character ‘Sportin’ Life’ in Porgy and Bess (1935), “It Ain’t Necessarily So”, I call the threat ‘the promise’ because it has motivated me to take a proactive approach to it. Since I am an Ayurvedic-Baha’i health consultant. I’ve done alot of my own subjective and objective observation and research on the psychoemotional/spiritual factors that predispose a person to the onset of this dis-ease. Prevention at the subtle level is most important in this case, given that there is no cure (as yet).
According to Ayurveda, there are 5 components for health: diet, relationships, lifestyle, bodymind consciousness and spiritual practice. All 5 components play a role; each and all of them must be considered and managed in order to establish and maintain a healthy balance. When one or more is ignored, an unhealthy imbalance ensues. There are 6 stages in the disease process: accumulation of aggravation; overflow; circulation; deposition; signs and symptoms; and manifest disease (with a name, like Alzheimers). It can take years, even generations, of first-stage accumulation of aggravation before the appearance of fifth-stage signs and symptoms that lead to the sixth stage disease state with a name. With keen observation and awareness, we can catch the process at the first, second or third stages so that it never advances to the more overt stages of signs and symptoms or manifest disease.
That said, your candor about your fears about growing old and Alzheimers is refreshing. In my opinion, facing the truth about ourselves and life — making changes when and where indicated — goes a long way toward prevention of Alzheimers. I’m not in denial when I say that I don’t believe in “aging”, per se; I do believe in neglect and ignorance which result in onset of a disease process. The former “problem” seems inevitable; the latter is not. I can know, I can learn, I can choose and I can do. I choose the latter! I would imagine you do, too!
since my mom had alzheimers, i observed the course of this disease first hand and looked at it as closely as i could back through decades of hers and my history to when all was well through later years when it wasn’t. i am always reminded of the flipside blessing that alzheimers gives, or may give. alzheimers also seems to supply a changing internal perception, so one doesn’t feel self-conscious. i think of it like hypnotism. i have heard that being in a hypnotic state doesn’t give the hypnotist the power to compel the subject to do something that is against his principles, such as homicide. i had some of my best years as a daughter being with my mother and re-living her life and my life together, when we weren’t too busy to spend the time to be together and reminisce. i still admire glen campbell, via your story, for continuing his life with gusto.
At the age of 71 and as a potential “inheritor” of Alzheimers, the “threat” and the “promise” of this dreaded illness has been circling around me for more than 25 years.
I call it a threat because my mother, her sister and my grandmother have all died of it. But, like the popular song by George Gershwin sung by the character ‘Sportin’ Life’ in Porgy and Bess (1935), “It Ain’t Necessarily So”, I call the threat ‘the promise’ because it has motivated me to take a proactive approach to it. Since I am an Ayurvedic-Baha’i health consultant. I’ve done alot of my own subjective and objective observation and research on the psychoemotional/spiritual factors that predispose a person to the onset of this dis-ease. Prevention at the subtle level is most important in this case, given that there is no cure (as yet).
According to Ayurveda, there are 5 components for health: diet, relationships, lifestyle, bodymind consciousness and spiritual practice. All 5 components play a role; each and all of them must be considered and managed in order to establish and maintain a healthy balance. When one or more is ignored, an unhealthy imbalance ensues. There are 6 stages in the disease process: accumulation of aggravation; overflow; circulation; deposition; signs and symptoms; and manifest disease (with a name, like Alzheimers). It can take years, even generations, of first-stage accumulation of aggravation before the appearance of fifth-stage signs and symptoms that lead to the sixth stage disease state with a name. With keen observation and awareness, we can catch the process at the first, second or third stages so that it never advances to the more overt stages of signs and symptoms or manifest disease.
That said, your candor about your fears about growing old and Alzheimers is refreshing. In my opinion, facing the truth about ourselves and life — making changes when and where indicated — goes a long way toward prevention of Alzheimers. I’m not in denial when I say that I don’t believe in “aging”, per se; I do believe in neglect and ignorance which result in onset of a disease process. The former “problem” seems inevitable; the latter is not. I can know, I can learn, I can choose and I can do. I choose the latter! I would imagine you do, too!
Lyrics to “It Ain’t Necessarily So!”
It ain’t necessarily so
It ain’t necessarily so
The t’ings dat yo’ li’ble
To read in de Bible,
It ain’t necessarily so.
Li’l David was small, but oh my !
Li’l David was small, but oh my !
He fought Big Goliath
Who lay down an’ dieth !
Li’l David was small, but oh my !
Wadoo, zim bam boddle-oo,
Hoodle ah da wa da,
Scatty wah !
Oh yeah !…
Oh Jonah, he lived in de whale,
Oh Jonah, he lived in de whale,
Fo’ he made his home in
Dat fish’s abdomen.
Oh Jonah, he lived in de whale.
Li’l Moses was found in a stream.
Li’l Moses was found in a stream.
He floated on water
Till Ol’ Pharaoh’s daughter,
She fished him, she said, from dat stream.
Wadoo …
Well, it ain’t necessarily so
Well, it ain’t necessarily so
Dey tells all you chillun
De debble’s a villun,
But it ain’t necessarily so !
To get into Hebben
Don’ snap for a sebben !
Live clean ! Don’ have no fault !
Oh, I takes dat gospel
Whenever it’s pos’ble,
But wid a grain of salt.
Methus’lah lived nine hundred years,
Methus’lah lived nine hundred years,
But who calls dat livin’
When no gal will give in
To no man what’s nine hundred years ?
I’m preachin’ dis sermon to show,
It ain’t nece-ain’t nece
Ain’t nece-ain’t nece
Ain’t necessarily … so !
My spouse and I absolutely love your blog and find most of your post’s to be just what I’m looking for. Does one offer guest writers to write content for yourself? I wouldn’t mind publishing a post or elaborating on most of the subjects you write concerning here. Again, awesome website!
Thanks D….you are always welcome to respond to my blog and elaborate, commiserate, or flagellate at length. Glad to be with you on the journey, :O)