8 Years Ago: The Beginning of Everything
It was about eight years ago, one evening in 2015, that everything began to change. I was sitting there, watching Mom iron—something she did so often. But that night, her movements were different, slow, almost like watching a video in slow-motion. I remember that moment so clearly, almost as if time had slowed down with her. I called out, “Mom, why are you moving so slowly?” She just looked at me, her eyes blank, and then went back to ironing as if nothing was wrong. But I knew in my gut that something wasn’t right.
I couldn’t shake the feeling, so I mentioned it to my siblings. They brushed it off, saying it was probably because of her weight or just inactivity. But that didn’t sit well with me. After dinner, I couldn’t hold back—I had to talk to her. I asked if she was feeling okay and told her I noticed how slow her movements were. She said it was probably just her Vitamin B12 levels again—something she dealt with due to her vegetarian diet. She’d been getting those B12 shots at the polyclinic regularly.
But I couldn’t just leave it at that. The worry was gnawing at me, so I decided to take a day off work and go with her to her next polyclinic appointment. I needed to hear from a professional that everything was truly okay. During the appointment, I told her doctor about what I had seen, how she just wasn’t herself. He looked at her, then at me, and said everything seemed fine. But I knew better. This was my mom! I could feel that something was off. I couldn’t just let it go, so I pushed on, asking if she could be further assessed. The doctor finally relented and handed me a referral to a neurologist.
“Stay true to what feels right,
-Anonymous
even if others others see things differently.”
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