A new mom shared a positive take on her own mother's heartbreaking Alzheimer's battle with a series of videos of her lighting up each time she meets her baby granddaughter for the "first time ever". Kate DeVar, 30, from Greenville, South Carolina, first started noticing symptoms of her mom Lorraine's Alzheimer's in 2008, before Lorraine later started having issues speaking. Lorraine, 63, began to struggle to complete full sentences and very rarely made contact with Kate about major life events, causing her to later be diagnosed with aphasia, a disorder impacting communication. This inability to speak is commonly paired with Alzheimer's, and despite Lorraine’s condition worsening, she tried her best to explain to her daughter she hoped Kate would one day have a baby of her own. After Kate accepted here mom’s condition was likely Alzheimer's, Lorraine was officially diagnosed, and Kate's stepdad – Lorraine's primary caregiver – was forced to move her to a memory home in 2021. Then, in 2023, and with the baby her mom had always dreamed of, Kate, whose name Lorraine doesn't remember, regularly pays her mother a visit with daughter Penny, who is seven months old. When with her mother, Lorraine is often in her own world, Kate said – but when Penny makes a loud noise Lorraine comes back to reality, lighting up at her baby granddaughter. Lorraine will then head over to see Penny in the room, Kate added, remembering basic interactions, like saying, "That’s a good girl”, “Do you like me” or “Can you say, Ma Ma.” Each meeting with Penny is like a first-ever meeting for Lorraine, and Kate has shared wholesome clips of these moments online, hoping to bring awareness to the condition.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Her name is Penny.
00:02 Can you say Penny?
00:04 Penny.
00:05 Mom, can you say, "I love you, Penny?"
00:08 You holding her?
00:10 I love you.
00:12 Aww.
00:13 Lorraine has Alzheimer's and thinks she's meeting her granddaughter for the first time
00:19 ever.
00:20 Except, it's not the first time they meet.
00:23 Lorraine has actually seen her grow throughout her whole life, but she doesn't remember.
00:29 Do you love her more than me?
00:32 Yes.
00:33 What?
00:34 So, every time she sees little Penny,
00:37 Yep, that's the baby.
00:38 She thinks she's meeting her for the first time all over again.
00:43 Yeah, it's your grandma.
00:48 Her daughter, Kate, told us Lorraine is nonverbal, but does say a few words every time Penny
00:56 comes around.
00:57 Have you seen the baby?
01:00 No.
01:01 Look down.
01:05 And while this disease takes and takes, she's holding on to these special moments.
01:11 Look at the baby.
01:13 (laughing)
01:15 (upbeat music)