Children’s Story About Alzheimer’s

“Ick, he’s smelly and he acts funny,” David said.

“David Joseph Thornton,” said Mom in her mad voice.

David ignored the icky feeling in his stomach. “Well, he is.”

David felt a little bad when Mom did one of her loud sighs. He didn’t go into the living room, though. I can’t talk to him. He smells really funny and he acts weird, he thought to himself. He ran outside and jumped on his new bike.

I’ll go see Noah, he decided. Noah’s house was two whole blocks away. Noah didn’t have any old people moving in.

Noah wasn’t in the yard, so David knocked on the door. Noah’s mom answered.

“Hi, David. Noah can’t come out to play. I need him to help with the baby. You can come in, though.”

“Cool,” David said. “I love Jeffy.” He followed the sound of the baby’s laughter to the family room. “Hey, Noah.”

“Hi,” Noah said. He handed Jeffy to David.

David breathed in the smell of baby and sighed. “You are so lucky. Jeffy smells good and is cute and little.”

“Did your Mom’s uncle come?” Noah asked.

“Oh, yeah. Mom wanted me to talk to him. He doesn’t even understand most stuff. And he thinks Mom is Grandma. Noah, he smells old.”

“That’s gross,” said Noah.

David kissed Jeffy’s nose. Jeffy gurgled back at him. “That’s the same sound Uncle Simon makes. Except it’s not cute when he does it.”

“So what’s wrong with him?”

“Mom says his brain is sick. She said he has some disease called Al’s Hammer, whatever that means.”

Noah called, “Hey, Mom, what is Al’s Hammer?”

His mom looked into the room. “Do you mean Alzheimer’s?”

“That’s it,” said David.

“It is a disease where older people lose their memory and get very sick. When it gets very bad, they will act like little kids or even babies. Why?”

“Uncle Simon has it,” said David. “He’s really scary.”

“That’s too bad. Make sure you tell your mother I’d be happy to lend a hand if she needs it. Taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s can really be hard.”

“Okay,” David said. He handed Jeffy back to Noah. “I’d better go. Mom’s going to order pizza for dinner and I don’t want to miss that, even if I do have to eat with Uncle Simon.”

When David got home, he set the table without waiting for Mom to remind him.

“Is Uncle Simon going to eat with us?” he asked Mom.

“No, sweetie. I have to grind his food up so he can swallow it without choking,” Mom said. “Tomorrow, a nurse is coming to help us take care of him. She will give him lunch and dinner and then help him get ready for bed.”

“Why can’t he stay in the hospital if he’s that sick?” David asked.

“Honey, Uncle Simon ran out of money. He has to go into a special home and it will take a few weeks for them to get ready for him.”

After dinner, David decided to practice dribbling his basketball in the hallway. He wanted to play basketball when he went to middle school and so far he wasn’t very good.

“David, take that ball outside before you break something,” Mom called from the kitchen.

David kept dribbling the ball as he headed down the hall towards the front door. Suddenly, he lost control and the ball bounced through the living room door. “Oh, no,” he said, and held his breath. Cautiously, he looked into the room. The ball had rolled to a stop right beside Uncle Simon, who was sleeping in the recliner. Maybe if he tiptoed, he could get the ball without waking up Uncle Simon.

David crept forward as quietly as he could, but when he reached for the ball, Uncle Simon’s foot shot out and kicked it away. “Hey!” David looked up in surprise.

Uncle Simon was looking right back at him and his eyes looked happy. “Ball,” he said and made some gurgling noises. He flapped his hands and kicked his feet. “Ball, ball, ball.”

“Shhh. Okay, okay. Here’s the ball,” David said and rolled it to Uncle Simon like he was playing with Jeffy.

Uncle Simon kicked the ball again and shouted, “Ball, ball.”

“What on earth is going on in here?” asked Mom from the doorway.

David rolled the ball back to Uncle Simon and looked up at Mom. “Just playing some ball with Uncle Simon.”

She smiled at him and David felt good for the first time all day. “It’s like he’s a baby
inside an old person, Mom,” he said.

“I know,” Mom said. She looked sadly at Uncle Simon and then she looked at David. “You know, when he first had Alzheimer’s he was really scared and angry all the time. Then he got worse and couldn’t remember anything, but he still wasn’t happy. This is the first time I’ve seen him smile.”

David grabbed the ball before it hit the coffee table. “Wow, Uncle Simon, that was some kick. Tomorrow, I’m going to get my soccer ball,” he said, as he rolled the ball back again. “I bet you can help me practice blocking goals.”

Mom laughed. “I think you’re right,” she said.

“Ball,” yelled Uncle Simon.