She’s our Nonna

See that lady on the far right she has no idea who the kids are beside her. All she asks when we go visit is if they have been fed, do they sleep through the night and continually asks if the baby is breast fed. That lady used to babysit like ten kids at once when she first arrived to Canada and kids of her own. She never complained, she never argued she just did what was asked of her. When we were younger and she would babysit us she would always make us write numbers 1 to 100 and every 100 we did we would get ten cents. That was how she would keep us busy. We think this is why Laura is a math genius.

We could write so much more about her but there isn’t enough white space on the screen. Sadly she has Alzheimer’s and it has completely taken control of her brain. Memories come and go for her, she smiles, has no idea who we are and it’s the hardest thing for our mom to watch. She’s our “Nonna Maria”.

If only our grandparents, great grandparents had the opportunities and help we had today to talk openly about mental health. It is easy to judge but no one really knew the battle they were fighting inside. Today’s post is dedicated to our “Nonna” and everyone else effected by mental health and in honour of #bellletstalkday, but it’s also dedicated to our ancestors who have come and gone and never had the voice and education around mental health that we had today.