Mom was one of a number of siblings, most having been born overseas, while she was born in Canada. Her family emigrated here with very little in the way of belongings. Only one trunk for the entire family. Her mother worked doing things like taking in laundry, cleaning people's homes, taking in lodgers, and anything else she could do to keep their heads above water. Her father worked for a time in the city they lived in, but went home during the war to look for his family. He was stuck there a number of years before he was able to return, so her mom raised them herself.
During that time, one of her sisters died from illness (age 12), another was diagnosed with possible TB and had to live in a "health camp" for a period of time. Her father returned eventually, but died an accidental death at a young age from the work he did. They were, at times, poor and and other times, had just enough. At no time were they what one would consider wealthy, but they always said those years (except for the deaths) were happy ones.
While none of this is all that important in terms of her illness, up until the point where my grandmother became ill, there really was no family history that would lead one to think much about a long-term illness - none that we knew about anyways.
My grandmother, we believe, had alzhiemer's. For many of the years I was growing up she had heart problems, but otherwise, she was an active, fun family woman. Shortly before I married, she became bedridden. At that point, we knew there was something wrong with her mind. The doctors simply said it was dementia due to old age, but she really wasn't that old. She eventually lost her sight, and her ability to speak, though she could still hear. She was bedridden at home for 7 years (with family) when she finally died. Her heart just quit. Back then I don't think the name alzhiemer's existed, or if it did...most people didn't know anything about it.
