Never in my life has the need to view the world around me from a different perspective been more apparent. It is asked of me through daily news, in my professional development and my family life. None however measure up to the challenge of an alternative perspective than through the eyes of my mother.  Her dementia requires you to suspend all that was in your reasonable mind and consider another possibility.

It sounds harmless, but by its very suggestion you can see how it could be fraught with disasters, if not closely monitored. But, keeping safety in mind, the stretch has been made possible on more than a few occasions.

As a result I have learned many lessons about life by living with my mother and witnessing her dementia. So I have compiled a list of those that gave me pause and a new perspective, and those that affirmed that my understanding was correct all along:

• Nothing bad happens if you stay in your pajamas all day long
• If you smile and wave at strangers across the room in a restaurant, they almost always will smile and wave back
• Cats definitely will not eat bananas placed in their bowls, regardless if they are peeled or not
• When you tell a story that makes no sense but punctuate it with laughter at the end, your listeners will laugh along with you
• Almost no one notices if you wear two different socks out in public
• If you always wore lipstick when you went out, you always will
• Even when a person’s social filters disappear, their kindness still remains
• Dogs will drink almost any liquid out of any receptacle including coffee mugs and hiball glasses
• Music is as important to our happiness as our memories
• One of the names you will remember until the end will be your Mothers
• Your children’s happiness never stops being important to you
• Dogs and cats are kinder and gentler with the elderly
• Sleep is as critical for the elderly as it is for newborns
• Watching the wind blowing through the trees is a beautiful way to spend an afternoon
• Cats rarely accept the offer to try and eat anything new
• Dogs will accept the offer to eat anything new almost 100% of the time
• Costco is “the biggest store I have ever seen!” every time you visit
• Dogs have wishes and communicate them to some people, even if others are not able to hear them
• When requested, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a perfectly good meal regardless of the time of day
• Saying “Who cares! No one is looking at me” will get you the ability to wear any ensemble you create with impunity
• Plain coke tastes just like rum and coke if you believe it
• Iced tea tastes like Water
• Water is boring
• Color in your life brings happiness
• Going for a walk everyday is critical to good health
• A meal without a proper place setting, including a napkin, makes it impossible to start eating
• Insects of any kind are to be rescued for release outside and never killed
• Losing your memory doesn’t make you stupid
• Even at the height of confusion, people still know when they are being treated with disregard
• Animals are capable of training any person of any age to do their bidding
• If someone forgets your name it does not mean their love for you is forgotten