'That's not Grandma'
Family deals with the effects of Alzheimer's
Eighty-four-year-old Maryette Geraets is known for her irresistible caramel rolls that her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren couldn't wait to dig into.
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Now if family members of Maryette and the late Chuck Geraets want the mouth-watering caramel rolls they have to make them themselves. Maryette Geraets, a Woodland Good Samaritan Society resident in Brainerd, is no longer capable of making her specialty rolls anymore.
Bob Geraets of Browerville clapped as he hugged his grandson, Noah Wagner, 2, during a presentation Saturday at the Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk at Kiwanis Park. Geraets' mother, Maryette (right), has Alzheimer's and is a resident at Woodland Good Samaritan Society in Brainerd. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey » Purchase reprints of this photo.
Dealing with the loss of caramel rolls is the easy part for the family. The hardest part is accepting the fact that Maryette has Alzheimer's. She was diagnosed in 2003 and it hasn't been easy on the family, which includes 14 children, 37 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
The family is dealing with Maryette's condition the best way they can. To help support her and others with Alzheimer's, the family formed a team and participated in the Alzheimer's Association 2009 Memory Walk Saturday in Kiwanis Park.
Maryettte Geraets
Research from the Alzheimer's Association indicates Alzheimer's is a brain disorder that destroys brain cells causing memory loss and problems with thinking and behavior severe enough to affect work and a person's social life. There is no cure and Alzheimer's and research funding is critical. Alzheimer's is the fifth-leading cause of death for those 65 and older and deaths attributed to Alzheimer's are increasing.
Geraets' daughters, Sue Dahl and Monica Eide, both of Brainerd, began seeing the early signs of Alzheimer's in their mother eight years ago. They said their mother would forget and misplace things. Their mother one time put her wallet in the freezer and couldn't find it. Dahl's husband, Todd, said Maryette would be talking about one thing and then switch topics frequently and often repeat things.
Maryette also would lock herself out of her Browerville home, the home where she raised her children. Geraets' sons, Mark and Bob Geraets, who both live in Browerville, kept close tabs on their mother.
Bob Geraets said at 5 a.m. one day police officers found his mother on a street corner sitting on the curb in her pajamas. He said his mother told the officers that she's couldn't find her way back home.
"It was tough," said Bob Geraets. "Every day we'd be looking for her."
Mark Geraets said he'd tell his mother early in the day that'd he'd pick her up for church at 4 p.m. Then when he'd go to pick her up, she would not be home because she went to church by herself.
Mark Geraets said he took his mother to Arizona in 2004 for a five-day trip and when they came home, his mother said to him, "I'm not going to stay here. This is not my home."
Maryette's condition progressed to where it was not safe for her to live by herself, so the family made the tough decision in 2005 to move her to Edgewood Vista, an assisted living facility in Brainerd. Maryette then was transferred to a nursing home in Pierz when she broke her hip and then this past January she was moved to Woodland in Brainerd.
Sue Dahl said when her mother was at Edgewood Vista, her mind deteriorated to the point she did not recognize faces of family and friends. Dahl said the last few times she visited her mother, her mother did not talk to her. Dahl said she just sat with her mother holding her hand and watching her mother who had a blank stare on her face.
Todd Dahl said, "This was hard on me being in the family for so many years and hard on the entire family. Seeing her progression in this brutal disease and all the hurt it caused. That's not Grandma, we lost her awhile back. We love grandma with all our heart, but that is not her."
The Dahls try to visit Maryette once a week. Eide visits her twice a week and tries to go when she can help feed her in an attempt to try to get more of a reaction out of her mother.
The Dahls said when they visit Maryette they treat her the same way as they always have. They talk to her about their lives and hope they get a reaction out of her. The Dahls said that sometimes Maryette will say something or she'll have a certain spark in her eyes, which gives them hope that Maryette remembers. But often they're disappointed because she doesn't.
Sue Dahl said her advice to other Alzheimer's families is, "To keep loving them as you always have and hope that they will still feel that love."
Rita Kirzeder, of Crosby, a daughter of Geraets, said it's tough to deal with her mother's condition. She said there are no words to explain how she feels and how emotional she gets.
"Every moment I spend with her is more precious," said Kirzeder. "She may not recognize us or respond, but she's more of a blessing to us than ever."
Esther Gieschen of the Alzheimer's Association of Minnesota-North Dakota said more than $30,000 was raised Saturday by more than 500 walkers, which included the Good Samaritan Communities of Brainerd and Pine River that had 115 walkers who raised $9,880. This year was the first time the Memory Walk was hosted in Brainerd.
Gieschen said, "This is truly an outstanding show of support from the lakes area communities. This walk exceeded all goals. I would like to ... thank all the communities involved, on behalf of all the individuals and families affected by Alzheimer's disease and related disorders who will be helped through this effort."
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.