Unlocking the Hard Word Box by Julia Jones
A Poet's Exploration of Dementia and Ageing by Sarah Hesketh "Look, let's be clear: don't imagine there is anybody here who enjoys dribbling poetry, If you think we're holding stars on our tongues that's your eyes want testing. If you hear music when we grunt you haven't understood exactly what it is we needed to say. You might enjoy the ruins of our grammar, the way we chew up our nouns to song. It's not your hand that's getting thinner on the blanket. Please don't ask us to speak the hard words all at once." (The Hard Words) Words go, as Alzheimer's Disease shrivels the brain. Nouns go first, it seems to me - and proper nouns first of all. They are perhaps the hardest words and the words that define an identity. "It really hurts me," said one of my sons, "that Boommie doesn't know who I am." "But she does,'" I tried to tell him. "She just can't remember your name...