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Paula's World - Kids Book for Dementia

11/20/2020

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Dementia leads to a lot of circular conversations.

Mimi asks us the same questions every day. After about a year of this, we realized making some visual aids could help the situation. We started with large posters on her bedroom wall and she reads them often. Then, I stumbled across the custom kids books on Artifact and thought it would be cool to make Mimi a book that answers all her usual questions like where is her mother and is there a funeral today. She loves the book but, like with the posters, always forgets it exists. So, every day, I show it to her all over again and it's sweet to see her eyes light up because someone made a whole book about her. I'm pretty sure this is the only thing I've ever done that has actually impressed her.
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The book is fairly small and easy to hold.
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The pages are thick and durable cardboard.
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The type is large enough for her to read.
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And, it's helpful to have so many large photos.
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Portrait of an Elderly Bavarian Woman with Dementia in Patches

10/18/2020

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Beerdigung means funeral in German. And, man, Mimi loves to talk about funerals. She attended them for fun, it was her hobby. But, most importantly, she thinks today is her father's funeral. He died in like, 1964, and she attended the funeral, but her mind has long forgotten that. Don't you dare wear red around her on the day of her father's funeral, she will hit your disrespectful ass. 
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Niemand Kommt means No one is coming. Every day Mimi expects visitors, yet they never come. We try to tell her no one is coming by to visit but she doesn't believe us. Depending on her mood she'll say "oh, ok." or she'll straight up laugh in your stupid face because she knows for damn sure her (dead) sister Ingie is coming by, you fool. 
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Tired Mimi gets these teeny tiny eyes. They aren't slits like your average mostly-closed eyes, oh no, they're perfectly round tiny butthole opening eyes. I've never seen anything like it before in my life. 

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Portrait of an Eis Queen

9/30/2020

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The dementia brain craves sugar.

We learned this when my grandpa had Lewy Body Dementia. All he wanted were sweets. And, the hospice nurse told my mom that's just how it is. The dementia brain is working hard, it makes the patients suffering from it crave sweets in an attempt to get more energy to keep that busy brain fueled.

Mimi is the same. She has stage 4 dementia and her favorite food is ice cream. Ice cream in German is Eis (pronounced "Ice") and I often think of her as the Eis Queen. So, I made this painting in photoshop of Mimi with her favorite thing. We had it printed and hung it in our hallway. 

​And, yes, she does eat other food. Meals that aren't full of sugar, she doesn't like those as much. 
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Jimi and the Altstätters

7/31/2020

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Nothing about this record is real. 

Dementia is a trip.

My husband and I live with his 86 year old grandma who has stage 4 dementia. She prefers to be called Mimi. Some days she's pretty with it and other days we try to distract her struggling memory with ice cream, listening to the radio, walks, and chatting about the weather.

​She often comes up with the most wild things out of nowhere, some based in reality and others, complete figments of her imagination. Like Jimi and the Altstätters. 

Out of the blue the other day, one of our neighbors houses became "The Altstätters". And those pesky ​Altstätters like to steal her yellow flowers. 

When someone has dementia, it's best to roll with their delusions. 

So, we agree with her that it's terrible that the Altstätters steal her flowers and help her to bed hoping a nap would distract her worried mind. But, later that day she started asking about a Jimi. 

Who the hell is Jimi?

There's never been a Jimi in her life. Jimi isn't even a German name. Germans pronounce the letter 'J' with a 'Y' sound but she wasn't, she was saying it the english way. How did she come up with that? We tried to get more information from her about who this Jimi was but, she said she didn't know. We left her room and my husband kept saying in between laughing that "there is no Jimi!" 

Reflecting on the day we kept saying Jimi and the Altstätters. Jimi and the Altstätters. Jimi and the ​Altstätters.

Jimi and the Altstätters, that sounds like a band name. 

So I made a quick album cover of Mimi's new favorite band. And, of course it had to feature a ballad for all those stolen flowers.  
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    Blog Profile Portrait

    Hi, I'm Dana.

    I love art, design, vintage goods, healthy living, and weirdo fringe stuff.

    I design wallpaper and textiles under the name Dolphin & Condor. 

    I have my own line of pillows based on the periodic table called Element Pillows. 

    I have an ugly Christmas sweater shop called My Ugly Sweater. 

    I edit and sell vintage photos under the handle Photo Trade Co. 

    ​And, so much more! Can you tell I enjoy working?
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