Back Of The Train example essay topic

The Care It Takes Taking care of an elderly person can be a difficult thing to, do especially when they have a disease called Alzheimer's. According to the Encarta Encyclopedia, "Alzheimer's is a disease marked by progressive loss of mental capacity. ' This is the exact problem that the Grandfather, Michael McMahon, has in the story Grand Opening. It is not easy living with someone who has Alzheimer's. The novel shows many examples of how hard it is to live with someone with the disease and all of the extra care you have to put forth. A person who has Alzheimer's has a major problem remembering things.

When the family was moving from Minneapolis to the small town of Plum, the Grandfather was very confused. During the entire trip they had to keep reminding him where they were going, even though they just told him where they were going five minutes ago. This is a burden on the family because they have to keep repeating themselves. No one likes to repeat themselves over and over again.

The first night that they were in their new home, the Grandfather was so disorientated. Even after he was put to bed, he would repeatedly downstairs and ask Hank and Catherine where he was. The second day in town, the grandfather did something that no one could believe. He just awoke form his nap when he heard a noise that was very familiar to him. It was the sound of a train whistle. He ran running to the window and saw the smoke from a train headed toward town.

A memory was triggered in his head and he went running from the house toward the train. While running to the train, he started to think back to when he used to work on the train. He was tried to remember all of the people he knew that would be working on this line. This is a perfect example of a person that has Alzheimer's. They have flash backs and think that they are back in the past, instead of being in the present.

When he finally caught up to the train, he climbed on the locomotive and introduced himself to the engineer. He was immediately escorted off of the locomotive. He then walked to the back of the train and climbed aboard the caboose, climbed up to the brakeman's high seat and fell asleep, only to awake to the whistle of the train. He tried to collect his wits, but could not remember what train run he was on, since he did not recognize any of the material in the car, nor whom it belonged too. By the time he climbed down and went to the rear platform, the train was already underway. He stood on the rear platform and waved to everyone he passed, including two ladies.

One of them turned out to be Catherine, and she could not believe what she saw. She jumped in her car followed the train all the way Pin burg to retrieve her father. When she got there, Grandfather still did not know what was going on. He thought he was supposed to be working on the train.

At this point, Catherine and Hank did not know what to do with him. They could not leave him alone anymore. They had to find somewhere they could leave him. They thought about taking him down to the market with them, but they could not have him sitting around all day with nothing to do.

He would not be able to take his naps in the afternoon at the market. There was a bar next door to the market. Hank and Catherine thought that he might be able to say there. They asked the bartender if their grandfather could stay there and if he would look after him.

That way he would have someone to talk to and would not become bored. That would be something that would not take place today. There would be no way that you could just go into a bar and ask the bartender if he could watch your father who has Alzheimer's. Even with someone watching him, Catherine was still needed to take him home at noon for his nap and then bring him back to the bar after he awoke. This situation was extremely difficult for Catherine, as she had to leave work when there still was many tasks to do at the market. She wished that there was something else she could do or someplace else she could take Grandfather to make it easier on everyone.

Back in 1940, when this novel took place, there was no nursing home for him to go to. However, the care for people with Alzheimer's is a lot different in the 1990's then it was back then. There is no true cure for the disease, but there is medicine that can help with the disease. Back when this story took place there was no medicine for Alzheimer's and there was no such thing as nursing home.

So back then, the kids had to take care of their elderly parents. Today, people can put their parents into a nursing home. "One of the best new ideas that's taking hold these days is the specialized Alzheimer's units that many care facilities are opening' (Largest). This way the children, with parents who are living in a nursing home, can live a normal life. Living with someone who has Alzheimer's is very difficult. There is a lot of stress for the family and also for the person how has the disease.

It is not an easy thing to deal with. With the help of medicine and nursing homes, families are able to live a more normal life, free from worry about what to do with a parent who has Alzheimer's..