Dear Editor:
That piece that you posted in April about caring for special needs people or old people that have Alzheimer’s during TEOTWAWKI really blessed me a lot. I saw a lot of practical information and reasoning that can be applied to everyday life dealing with people like that. Things that can effect the relationship between you, the person you care for and others can be as simple as unfettered gossip. I soon learned after my Dad’s death that having conversations with my mother about our business things that were before and still needed to be kept under wraps were parroted uncensored to the masses which created a lot of strife for me and my family even after warning Mom in advance it was only to be mentioned between me and her. I was accused of spreading stories about people all over town when in fact I had only mentioned it to one person in what I was assured would be complete confidence, confidence that was soon destroyed and replaced with resentment and frustration not to mention mountains of embarrassment.
My mothers mind isn’t what it used to be and she can’t keep any of our conversations to herself anymore. Not from me or anyone else for that matter. If we talk about something private she parrots it to the rest of the world even when I’ve made it clear it’s to be kept completely private. At first I doubted her loyalty and even question if she might be out to get me or something, but I began to understand that her old mind wasn’t reasoning things properly anymore and she doesn’t calculate the consequences of her loose lips or the ramifications that go along with it. If she even remembers it’s a secret, I’ve questioned that even. Once I learned that she was “secrecy incompetent” and unable to keep information private, things have gotten much better. That doesn’t mean the problem doesn’t still strike from time to time, but I don’t have people calling me accusing me of spreading vicious rumors about them or finding out my personal business is everyone’s knowledge in the community. What’s even worse the information would get altered and got worse as it was passed along.
In a TEOTWAWKI situation it could have caused a complete melt down even compromised everyone’s safety. Sometimes a death in an organization or family can cause The end of the world as we knew it to be. It changed my world, I know that.
I still love mom as always, but when she got old and came under my care, I had to learn and adapt to her behavior. My mom wasn’t like that when she was younger, so at first it caught me off guard. People are going to get old even after a TEOTWAWKI event.
The article you posted on the SurvivalBlog was of real value to me. Thanks! – Chris J.