Reminiscence

Kseniya Halubovich, Belarus

Diana lives with her mother. Mom has Alzheimer‘s disease for several years. “Over time, you begin to understand that there is nothing fearful about this. And there is even some kind of cyclic harmony of life. A child first appears. He cannot do anything. Alzheimer, in this sense, packs a person back in the same way. Person just breaks up gradually with his past, with skills and abilities. Person is not to blame for what happened.“

Diana is finding it increasingly difficult to understand mom. Mom speaks a lot, in a stream of identical sounds you can sometimes make out words. And it seems that insight will happen now. But Diana already knows that a miracle will not happen.

How to live with a mother who has Alzheimer‘s disease? Diana came up with a way herself. Mom once played the mandolin. The daughter bought the instrument and began to make music again with her mother. When it became almost impossible to talk, music replaced dialogue.

“Music lessons, drawing, dancing – any classes that are interesting to do together – this is a great reason to have fun. We already realized that reality is breaking up. Therefore, you need to have fun. You can draw and not think what will happen to my career. After all, a career will never mean anything,“ – says Diana.

Discover more: Shortlist 2020