September is World Alzheimer's month and I wanted to share a moment that I shared with someone I met last December. We visited a care home to deliver some of our products to the residents. After spending some lovely time with the residents we were invited to visit some others in another room, who were in the later stages of dementia. One lady in particular seemed to be non-verbal but we were told that she liked to colour-in so we gave her one of our colouring books. She immediately seemed enchanted with it, gripping it tightly and looking at all the images intently.
She looked at me and gently moved her lips, but made no sound that I could hear. I asked her if she wanted to say something to me and she nodded, so I moved in close to hear her whisper ‘Why have you come here?’
Such a small, simple question, but when I consider all of the things that she must have known and understood to reasonably ask that question I am moved to tears. Whatever confusion she was experiencing, however late her dementia might be she was curious about who I was and why I had come. I feel that I only heard what she was saying because I was listening carefully, and because she was determined to connect with me and ask her question. So I wonder, how much do we miss by not listening more carefully?
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