Over the years many people have asked me how I came up with the title "Dementia-Mama-Drama". Here's an excerpt from our book "Dementia-Mama-Drama" now on Amazon Books that may further fill in the blanks...
"My nerves are shot!" You don't know how many times I heard that from my mother, one of the original drama queens. I think the first sentence I ever formed as a child was “Mommy, mommy my nerves are shot."
My mother had me late in life, I was the miracle child. She would always talk about how long I made her suffer during labor. She carried me for nine long months and of course I was late (as usual). She endured twenty-seven excruciating hours in the delivery room and finally gave birth to me. Mama enjoyed telling this to anyone who would listen. That was the beginning of our story together and it explains a lot!
I’d ask her "How are you feeling tonight?" She'd say "I'm dying,” then start to feign a highly dramatic cough, throw her head back and pretend that she just died. I'd say "Ma, are you okay?" She'd sit up all proper as if nothing happened. "Whaddya mean, am I okay? My nerves are shot." That was just another typical day with Mama.
Over the years, when friends would ask how we were doing, I’d say “Another day, another dose of Mama Drama.” Then it clicked and we crowned Anna with the perfect title: Dementia-Mama-Drama.
I had my own daily drama too. I had to deal with the staff at the nursing home - the doctors, the nurses, the social workers, the residents, her roommate and of course, the star... Mama. I knew every staff members name and their shift. It was a twenty-four hour job just getting the phone calls from everyone including Mama.
Well I told you how I came up with the name Dementia-Mama-Drama, but did I tell you that MY nerves are shot?
* * *