Page 7 - Who Are You
P. 7
Reflections from a Motorbike
My mummy and daddy both suffered from early-onset de-
mentia. My mummy died; my daddy survived.
This is a story of my daddy’s thoughts as he reflected on
life before, during and after the years caring for mummy as
she struggled through the last five years of her life. Those
reflections came in a series of verses as we rode the roads
of Australia on our motorbike. They came in many places,
sometimes on a lonely outback road, sometimes overlook-
ing a stunning panorama and sometimes just in the late
emptiness of night when memories from the past visit.
They came as simple words that slowly joined together over
ten years and many, many kilometres. Time that has now
given daddy his understanding of life’s meaning.
My daddy is neither writer nor poet, but a man who now
loves the simplicity and freedom of life on the road. His
hope is that these simple verses may give some insight of a
person who suffered, but survived, the loss of a soulmate
to dementia.
May our heartfelt love and warmth reach every dementia
carer and survivor, and may their reflections be kind to
them.
Chloe
