Norman McNamara was diagnosed with dementia age 50. Since then he has campaigned, tirelessly, to change the world for people with dementia. Encouraging whole towns to become dementia friendly through The Purple Angel ambassadors he has inspired to join his fight.
The following poem is from one of his books of poetry.
Changing Colours of the Season
I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the world with the glorious changing colours of the seasons. I was gazing at these wonderful views this morning when I started to think about how the seasons are very similar to life itself and the connection with Dementia.
Spring is like our births when the new born flowers and the rebirth of others push through the soil and are there for all to see with their fresh and young shoots growing rapidly into something quite beautiful.
Summer is all about things growing up and turning into adulthood whilst showing off their wonderful coats and colours, becoming mature and settled.
Autumn is as we get older and things start to change. This is also the season that reminds me of my illness the most. As the trees and landscapes change their colours so do we with this awful illness and things seem to take on a different meaning? The leaves slowly but surely decay and start to look a shadow of their former selves. But as with anything all is not lost. If you look very closely, beyond the falling leaves and into the landscape you can still see the same beauty and soul that lives on within all of us. We are still here, as are the trees and fields, and we still need looking after and nurturing as does all living things.
Unfortunately along comes the bleakness of winter (late stages of Dementia) when nothing seems to grow anymore and the landscape seems to fall silent. This is the worst time of all, especially for the nature lovers (carers) who just want things to get back to normal and the fields and trees to blossom again. But as we know, they sadly cannot during winter.
I hope you have all enjoyed this little walk through the seasons with me, and even though it may seem a sad one, always remember the three seasons before season of WINTER and all it entails as these memories will hopefully stay with you forever…