This afternoon I flipped through my card file and the word Etsy flashed past my eyes. Almost instantly I remembered using Etsy to buy something for Peggy. I had heard that people with Alzheimers loved to doodle with things in their hands. Peg was already two years into her decline so I did a little digging and learned about something called a fidget blanket. I searched everywhere and finally found one that I liked on Etsy. I never heard of Etsy before. I decided to try it out. I found a lady in England that made fidget blankets by hand. She incorporated all kinds of gadgets into her design. It took a few weeks to get to us but when it arrived I gave it to Peg who almost instantly latched onto one of the ribbons and wouldn’t let go. Success! It was worth the forty dollars and the long delivery time.
After that day, it became routine to give Peg her fidget blanket everyday when we sat her in the wheelchair. She found every ribbon, zipper, tinkle bell, buttons and loved the feel of them. What went through her mind when she felt these things one will never know, and I didn’t really care I just loved that she loved the thing.
About four months before she died the fidget blanket fell apart in the washing machine. By that time she was spending less time in the chair, and I regret not having bought another one for her to play with.
Strange how the mind works, just an instant nano-second look at the word Etsy triggered this recollection.
Filed under: Aging, Biography, family, health care | Tagged: Etsy, Fidget Blanket |
Aren’t you glad you did that. My MIL became engrossed in reading Road signs, printing on trucks, and ads on TV. It seemed to calm her.
It is one act I am very proud of. There wasn’t much I could do to make her happy at that point except to feed and clean her.