Jewel showed signs of memory loss in 2003.
“What is your little boy’s name?”
“We call him Aaron.”
“That’s a cute name.”
“How many children do you have?”
“Three.”
“How old is your little boy?”
“Five.”
“He is a cute five year old. What is his name?”
Jewel started asking the same question repeatedly in the same conversation.
She broke down in the middle of teaching the gospel doctrine class in the American Fork 34th ward. She stopped talking and sobbed, “I can’t do this. I’m sorry.” She had to do a lot of soul searching when the bishop called her to teach the class. She was taught to never refuse a calling. She was terrified but she taught the class anyway and did a good job until the stress got to her. She couldn’t remember what to say under the stress. .
Even before Jewel was called to teach the gospel doctrine class a ‘still small voice” came to me.
“You need to put your papers in and go on a real mission.”
We had recently served an unreal mission to the Washington D.C. Temple. I promptly submitted the papers because the ‘still small voice’ sound exactly like Jewel.
We were called to the Via Hermosa Temple in southern Mexico. We studied Spanish and learned the temple ordinance in Spanish. I studied harder but Jewel spoke the language better than me. However we never did understand Spanish in Via Hermosa. They talked to fast. We got along OK with Spanglish.
After six months they sent us to England to work in the London Temple. We did every job in the London Temple except sealing. Jewel was having trouble with her memory. When we ran the baptistry I helped with the records. When we were the shift leaders we ran the Temple. We made sure everybody was assigned to the right place at the right time. I helped Jewel remember who was where and when they needed to be somewhere else. It worked fine. Jewel learned all the ordinances and was admired and loved by everyone.
When we got home partly at the suggestion of our kids we went to the neurological clinic at the U of U. They diagnosed Jewel with pre alzheimer’s mild dementia. Dr. Hathaway prescribed some medication with some suggestions from Dr. Zamrini.
Jewel’s Pills:
- Cerefolin NAC 2
- Deplin
- Diovan
- Aricept
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin C
- Alprazolam
- L-thyroxxine
6 comments:
Dad. I'm so glad you wrote this down. I had a feeling Mom was having problems even before I got married. I'm glad you listened to the spirit. Thank you for keeping us updated. We really love you and we love mom. Keep posting.
Somehow I missed this post. I remember mom studying for hours and hours for that gospel doctrine class. She is an amazon example of diligence, hat work and obedience. You are too. We are all impressed with your love and care of our dear mother.
I love hearing all of this from your perspective. Love you!
Katy,
I agree that mom is an amazon example but I didn't know she also did hat work.
but seriously I am glad you are writing this stuff, dad. I remember how stressed she was when she had that gospel doctrine class. I remember around then you both we assigned to speak in church and the topic was accepting callings no matter what. That was also right around the time that Lacy was born and I remember how worried she was for us. It was right before you left for Mexico / London. She used to say she knew she was going to lose her memory.
Dan,
I posted from my iPhone so shut your mouth.
Mom is such an example to me of obedience, I know how hard it was for her to accept that calling of Gospel Doctrine teacher but she went ahead with faith - she has passed so many tests of faith in her life I love her and her great example and I'm so grateful to you Dad for being so kind and loving to her
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