As my husband has had Alz since around 2004, he has lost the ability to talk. He can say "I'm fine" when asked, etc., but there are very few words that come out of his mouth. However, he can still whistle any tune he ever knew and he can play the harmonica (although "rusty" from lack of practice). A few nights ago, we had a new blanket of snow. We were just settling down for the night. Hubby was laying in bed and I pulled back the blinds to see the snow.
It was glistening under the street lights and I was inspired to start singing "in the winter we can build a snowman".
Hubby joined in by whistling along. These are the times when you can be taken off guard for just a moment to feel
that things are "normal" once again. I thank God for these little spirts of happiness.

During Christmas, our grandson Marine came for a visit. Hubby pulled out his harmonicas and I asked him if he could
play the Marine hymn for him. He took a stab at it, but got lost along the way and got off the tune. I said "I know you can do better". So I sang the song and he played the tune perfectly. My grandson picked it up on his telephone cam and he was grinning from ear to ear.

Also, we attended a school program that our 4th grade grandson was singing in. They had chosen all of the military songs. Even though the room was full of proud parents and grandparents, my husband just sat there and whistled
along with all of the songs. A few people were turning heads to see where the whistling was coming from and I
felt a bit embarrassed, but I did not try to stop him. He didn't do anything to ruin the program. He sounded great.

And once in awhile he uses his whistling to whistle at me. Ha! Ha!

Can you delete my two entries?

Okay, I got my email address off so no need to delete. Thanks.

Jeannie,

I am on vacation this week, but do check in every once in a while, and I just saw your post. Welcome to my website.

You have come to a place of comfort for spouses/partners who are trying to cope with the Alzheimer's/dementia of their husband/wife/partner. The issues we face in dealing with a spouse/partner with this disease are so different from the issues faced by children and grandchildren caregivers. We discuss all of those issues here - loss of intimacy; social contact; conversation; anger; resentment; stress; and pain of living with the stranger that Alzheimer's Disease has put in place of our beloved spouse/partner.

The message boards are only part of this website. Please be sure to log onto the home page - www.thealzheimerspouse.com - and read all of the resources on the left side. The resource section has an extensive array of topics. I recommend starting with "Newly Diagnosed/New Member" and "Understanding the Dementia Experience". There are 4 sections for EOAD members - two of which focus on the young teens whose parents have EOAD (early onset AD). There is a great section on informative videos, and another excellent resource - Early Onset Dementia - A Practical Guide.

Do not miss the "previous blog" section. It is there you will find a huge array of topics with which you can relate. There is a "search" feature on the home page that allows you to look up different topics that may have been explored in a previous blog. Log onto the home page daily for new blogs; news updates; important information.

joang