another A word

Like my friend Salome, my mind makes bizarre connections. They come without warning and won't leave when I tell them to.

The funeral on Friday was nice- I mean, as nice as a funeral can be. As one of my aunts said, my uncle gave us a gift in that we all were able to see one another to remember him. I don't think I've seen any of these aunts, uncles, or cousins, since at least my wedding (9.5 years ago) and longer, for those who weren't able to attend my wedding.

There were hugs and hand-holding and exclamations over how much Thomas looks like me and my brothers when we were small. Dad and I looked through the photo album together and I heard some great stories.

Dad is the youngest of 11 children. His mother suffered from Alzheimer's Disease, as did this brother who just passed away. A sister was unable to attend the funeral because she is in the advancing stages of the disease.

This is the same side of the family that we have suspected to carry autistic traits. Autism and Alzheimer's. Two brain conditions which make it difficult to communicate- difficult to relate to the world around you and the people who love you.

I'll just stop there, because I don't really know what point I'm trying to make. I am NOT saying that Autism is a disease. And I'm not saying that the blessing of having an autistic person in your life is in any way comparable to having a loved one suffer from Alzheimer's. And I'm sure that someone will tell me off for even mentioning these two conditions in the same paragraph.

I'm just saying that these two "A" words collided in my life and in my brain last week, and I'm trying to sort it out.

I'm not scared of autism anymore. Haven't been for years. But I am scared of Alzheimer's Disease.