[Magdalen] 65th Anniversary of the Class of 1950

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

Mom had vascular dementia, a subtle breakdown of the brain processes
somewhat similar to Alzheimer's.  I found that in some undefinable ways,
Mom remembered stuff she ought not to have remembered, and other research
I've read confirms to me that memory is a lot more complex than we think.
The point is that we may be well advised to keep stimulating folks who have
lost (so far as we know) the ability to retain memories, and there does
seem to be a different process for storing cognitive memory. I am not
writing of other obvious different types of memory such as coordination and
muscle memory. Oliver Sacks, I believe, has written some very sensitive and
thoughtful stuff on the capacity of a person to store memories even though
science has shown that he no longer can.  So we took Mom out to eat and
drink practically up to the time of her death, and she maintained a
positive attitude in spite of everything else.  I have to believe that even
though she did not recall these pleasant events, something within her
remembered the happiness she experienced.



James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Mon, Mar 30, 2015 at 9:43 AM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:

> How wonderful! Even though Camille has Alzheimer's/dementia, many times
> people who have such will have old memories sparked by surroundings of
> their youth. No matter how much New Orleans has changed, there will be some
> things that never do. And even though her friends will have changed, their
> voices, in many cases, won't have, and there will be pictures. And she will
> get to see her daughter. This could be a real blessing. I hope she has a
> wonderful time.
>
> On Mon, Mar 30, 2015 at 3:48 AM, Allan Carr <allanc25 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > A while ago, Camille received a letter headed Saint Mary's Dominican High
> > School which started
> >
> > "Hi Girls,
> > Dearie do you remember when we came to Dominican. We were a bunch of
> Green
> > Freshmen. Well that was 65 years ago and we are still here and anxious to
> > get together and celebrate."
> >
> > After going through the details of the reunion, it ended
> >
> > "We had such fun together during our school days. It would be wonderful
> to
> > see you again and reminisce."
> >
> > "Sincerely yours,"
> >
> > I loved this letter and Camille remembered the person who wrote the email
> > and liked the idea of going. At first I worried about the expense of a
> trip
> > from L.A. to New Orleans and that Camille would remember none of it, but
> > anyway decided she would have a wonderful time with the other 80+ year
> > olds. I thought it would be too much for the two of us and invited any
> one
> > of Camille's three daughters to accompany Camille on the trip. Camille's
> > middle daughter who is in her late forties volunteered first and will
> go. I
> > spoke with the letter writer and advised her of Camille's condition and
> > that her daughter would be coming along.
> >
> > When another of her classmates heard about the trip, she volunteered an
> > empty small house that has a bedroom on top and a bedroom on the first
> > floor plus the bathroom and, I suppose, a kitchen and living room, and
> > then, even the use of her car.  I thought the offer was wonderful and now
> > really knew that Camille and daughter will be in good hands.
> >
> > The reunion is the weekend of the 24th and 25th of April. Tickets are
> > bought and she'll fly there on April 23rd and back the 26th.
> >
> > Peace,
> > Allan Carr
> >
>