Reality
One important episode involves the celebration of Alice’s 50th birthday. Even with her recent memory lapses, she felt that she was strong enough to continue her work and achieve new goals. When she went to a ladies’ room and had a look at herself in the mirror, she was almost shocked. She saw that “her golden brown eyes appeared tired” and “the texture of her skin appeared duller, looser”. This image shows how one’s own view of oneself might differ from the reality. Although Alice felt “young, strong and healthy”, her disease started progressing. Her idea of herself deluded her and that unintentional glance at her own reflection proved her suspicions that something was wrong.
A sandy path
Alice had a dream in which “she walked down a sandy path that led into the dense woods”. Then she came to a steep and exposed cliff, “walked to the edge and looked out”. She noticed that ‘the panorama before her appeared lifeless, colorless, impossibly still and silent”. This image gives an impression of Alice’s loneliness and fear. The colorlessness of her dream showed how drastically her life changed, how dull it became in comparison to her busy years at Harvard. A sandy path from her dream was an embodiment of her daily struggles against Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s
One member of Alice’s support group described how Alzheimer’s influenced his life and how he found out that he was ill. He “used to be handy around the house”, but suddenly he “couldn’t figure out how to fix the things”. His workshop was “a total mess”. He used to be a firefighter and suddenly he “started forgetting the names of the guys on the force”. He couldn’t “finish my own sentence” and forgot “how to make a cup of coffee”. This image shows how greatly Alzheimer’s changes lives. Even the easiest tasks may transform into sources of confusion.
