Mutiny

 Alzheimer’s disease is a slow-moving coup. Dissolving the most inherent parts of the self, this disease disassembles a person from the inside out. The dichotomy between a mind disintegrating and the vibrancy it once had becomes ever more transparent with each day.

During the last five years, I have watched as pieces of my father disappear, sometimes as crumbles, other times as large broken chunks. His loss of self requires constant unfamiliar navigation with tools he once inherently understood how to use. There is no singular way this disease affects a person or their community of people, but the breadth of its barbs is wide and its toll relentless.