Stories about dementia
3 Buddhist wisdom stories about dementia from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Grandmother with dementia still knew the monkStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Near the end, grandmother has long dementia; in a UK ward she recognises Brahm at once while barely recognising his brother.
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many years ago now eight nine years ago when she finally passed away she had dementia for such a long time and once she passed away it was a kind of I felt kind of relieved and happy for her. If you ever seen people with like dementia that they can't sometimes they don't remember who you are. I always thought that I don't know there wasn't that many. In fact, I was the only one who went into the the the old people's dementia ward or Alzheimer's ward know with a bald head and a brown robe. I thought at least she can remember me cuz I was different than everybody else. But no, she didn't even remember me at all. But I do recall when my uh my grandmother had dementia too. I remember when I went to go and see her in a sort of a ward in UK just outside of London. When I went in to see her, I went in with her with my brother. My brother lives in London. And so he was looking after her, going to visit her every week. And I'd only go once every three or four years whenever I could get into England because I was in a busy year. I remember just going to see my grandmother and as soon as she saw me, she recognized me straight away
- “Monastery” — a word from his mother with Alzheimer'sStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Visiting his mother in London, who no longer recognises him, Ajahn Brahm spends two hours with her; out of the blue she says the word “monastery”, and his brother notices —…
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I was talking about this about my mother in London because she's got you know complete Alzheimer's disease two years ago a year and a half ago when I went to see her she just cannot recognize me she doesn't know who I am I I was with her for two years two sorry for two hours and just talking to her being with her she didn't know who I was although just strangely just out of the blue in two hours with all the talk she said she mentioned the word Monastery which was really weird and my brother picked up on that it was totally out of context with everything else she was saying but there was something in there just obviously uh knew that there was something monastic there you know with a person know she was with
- That's not the dress I bought for herStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Mother in a locked dementia ward; brother first notices she is wearing someone else's dress — clothes get swapped on the ward — then catches himself and softens.
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mother had dementia when I went to visit her in a really really caring facility it had to be locked because mother would go wandering around she wouldn't know where she was but there's a lot toward but as soon as I went in with my brother the first thing my brother said when she saw my mother she's not what that's not the dress I bought for her because my brother would Supply you know all the clothes and other stuff that was his responsibility very caring and then he caught himself and louder said her sorry but she always does this I buy her dresses I know what I bought her and I go to visit her and she's wearing somebody else's dress