This Insidious Dementia
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Dementia keepsakes are not something you think about until the person passes. What kind of a keepsake item would you want to hang on to?
What are keepsakes
A keepsake is defined as anything kept, or given to be kept, as a token of friendship or affection: remembrance. A memento. A souvenir.
I doubt very much that while you’re in the middle of cleaning up poop or fixing dinner for your loved one with dementia, that you’re thinking about a keepsake item.
It isn’t until a few years go by after your loved one has passed, that you may wish you had some kind of a keepsake item.
In this post, I talk about several keepsake items I have in my Etsy shop and tell you about the photo books I did for my mom and dad.
Handprints
Handprint products are easy ones to do. You purchase the “base” of the print, print it out, “paint” your hand(s) or your loved one’s hand(s) then “stamp” your hand on the page. You should end up with a nice handprint!
I have 2 digital products in my shop that you could use as a memento of your loved one. (I actually have more handprint products than 2 but these 2 are specifically geared towards being a keepsake).
Why these are keepsakes
Well, the first one is a bouquet of forget-me-nots with the handprint being stamped at the top of the bouquet. Notice that there are 2 different styles of flowers. You can choose which flower bouquet you like best.
The second one is Thanksgiving related or being thankful for being together. You may notice that there are different poems. Depending upon how well your family gets along, you might like one poem over the other.
Memory Journal
Have you ever asked your mother or father, or gramma or grampa about how they celebrated Christmas when they were young? I never did and wish I had. It would have been interesting to know if it was any different (than what I am used to). Especially as she moved from Mississippi to Ohio when she was just a little girl.
Your children may want to know how their grandparents celebrated Christmas or the holiday season.
I have a Christmas Memory Journal in the shop. There is a vintage look to it with a kind of old, weathered paper look. You print out whichever pages you want and take it from there.
I have included discussion prompts to use to gather details from your loved one. Depending upon whether your loved one is able to still write they can write their memories or you can write for them, or even record their memories and go back and write it out later.
I tried to think of all the things you might want to know of how they celebrated the holiday season. Like – what kind of decorations did they have, the tree, did they have stockings, did they go to any parties, church, sign songs, did they do something special on Christmas Eve, did they bake special items.
Photo Books
Not long after my dad passed away I created a photo book history of his life as kind of a celebration of his life. For me, I think it was my way of working through the grief.
Photo books are not that hard to create. You basically upload photos and use a template, then add your text. You can even create books your own way rather than a template if you’re feeling creative.
This is the one I did for my Dad, pictured below, using Blurb. I wanted the book to have an old time photo album look since most of the pictures were black and white.
All over the house, there was evidence of Mom’s artistic ability – a painting on the wall, a woven basket on a shelf, a carved bird sitting on the top of a bookcase to name just a few.
When Mom was 88 and well into dementia at that point, I decided to create a photo book showcasing all her artwork. I had a couple of reasons for wanting to do this book. First, before her memory went completely, I wanted to get a little history on some of the artwork. I did Mom’s book using Shutterfly.
The other reason is that I wanted a record of all that artwork. A family memento, or tribute if you will, of her ability. Mom had over 70 pieces of art around the house.
I told my mom that I was going to be making this book and went around the house gathering the artwork so I could take pictures of it. She kept saying, “I don’t know why you’re doing this.” and “Why are you going to so much bother?”
Mom couldn’t understand why I was making such a big deal about her artwork. I tried to explain to her that her artistic ability meant a lot to me, that I was always envious of it, and that I wanted a way to remember it all.
She was so dang happy to see that book when it arrived! The look on Mom’s face when she started looking through it said it all!
The time I spent creating the book was so worth it! Mom looked at that book over and over again after she got it in the mail.
My mom was not computer literate at all. I think that part of her fascination at the time was that she couldn’t believe how her artwork got into an actual printed, bound book! With a picture of her on the back cover! I tried to explain but with her dementia, I don’t think that really did any good.
I know that Mom liked that book. There were many times when I would see her looking through that book as well as a book that I had done about my dad.
Mementos
I guess the 2 photo books I created serve as my memory holders of my mom and dad. They are my keepsake items.
What are your keepsake items? Do you have a dementia keepsake? A remembrance item of some sort.
If you don’t have any that you can think of, I’ve given you several ideas in this post. Maybe one will catch your interest.
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