Page 8 - Big Pharma and the Constant Gardener

will be okay,” she had quietly responded with an air of confidence

and determination – as if to reassure me.

Yet I sat at the breakfast table as I watched her struggle in her

kitchen – for the first time – to put on a pot of coffee. Why was I

not on my feet to help her? Forever, we had been very independent
– and her offer of a cup of coffee was the way in which she had

always greeted anyone who stopped for a visit.

DESPAIR, MONUMENTAL

CHALLENGE – AND

RESILIENCE

November 11, 1997 – Dad called with the shattering news that

Mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I knew very little

about this diagnosis – having only a vague awareness from book
titles such as The 36-Hour Day. Mother, Dad, and siblings came

together in the attorney’s office for the updating and signing of

our parents’ legal documents. Because of nervous giggles elicited

by Dad’s repartee with our attorney friend, it was Mother’s voice