A Young Caregiver’s Letter to Her Father with Alzheimer’s
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ต.ค. 2024
- When Melissa’s Dad was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, she was only 14 years old.
It changed the family dynamics, and she was forced to grow up to take on the responsibility of a caregiver for her Dad. “Our roles reversed,” she said. “I had to be the parent.”
We tend to think of dementia as a condition that primarily affects older persons, and issues of early-onset are often overlooked, including its impact on family members.
The challenges that young caregivers face are unique, especially with having to cope with the struggles of adolescence, alongside competing demands of school and caregiving.
Melissa is working to address this gap through Project We Forgot, a community platform she kickstarted, which offers support for young caregivers of persons with dementia.
Melissa wished that she was more informed about her Dad’s condition so that she could be a better caregiver, amidst having to come to terms with his memory loss and confusion.
“No one taught us how to feel when we watched you slowly slip away, or how to react when your memories started fading, and you stopped remembering who we were.”
She wrote these words in a letter to her Dad more than ten years later. Had she known better as a teenager, perhaps there could have been more empathy and understanding.
There was no one she could confide with in school, seeing that there was hardly any awareness about issues of dementia amongst her circle of friends and teachers.
With lessons learned from her own experience, Melissa hopes that young caregivers won’t have to feel the same isolation like she did. Through Project We Forgot, they can access resources and be connected with others who are going through similar journeys.
At the same time, Melissa actively reaches out to different institutions around Singapore to help raise awareness and support for the needs of caregivers at school or the workplace.
Meaningful change can only happen when there’s increased public education, she feels.
Reflecting on her journey, Melissa sees a large part of her Dad in who she is now, especially his entrepreneurial spirit, which gave her the impetus to kickstart Project We Forgot.
“I hope that I’m doing you proud, Dad.” She tells him as she ends her letter.
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Project We Forgot is a community network platform to inform, empower and support caregivers to persons with dementia.
You can learn more about PWF: projectweforgo...
Join PWF if you’re a caregiver: projectweforgo...
Read the full story: www.ourbetterw...
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Animator: Khoo Siew May
Sound Designer: Nohghani
Producer: Grace Baey
Executive Producer: Denise Oliveiro
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How did you feel watching Melissa's story? Tell us more in the comments below.
Absolutely a beautiful and moving video. Thank you for sharing your story and letting others know they are not alone!
Thank you for watching our video. Melissa's story is truly inspiring.
I still don’t understand what happened to her dad.
Excellent animation...caught my attention to follow thr through message and story.
Great job.
Thank you for your encouraging words, Colin! :)
I just watched this and oh My god some of the things i can relate to. My dad got diagnosed with dementia around 1 year age at age 59, i was 13 now im 14. Me and My mom were the only ones from our family taking Care of him. Other people from our family thinks that he isnt even a part of the family anymore. Christmas is soon coming around and my mom sent out an e-mail to the family asking if anyone could let him stay there, no one replied of course, so we are forced to have him stay here because no one else invited him.
I feel so bad... I was crying about this because there was so much that happened in many people's life, even mine.
At least she is the kind and beautiful young women today. I'm now looking forward to the future and help people like my mom.:')
We think it's amazing that you're inspired to help others like your mom. All the best Selyn! :)
it's sad I felt bad for her
It was a difficult time for Melissa, but the journey also inspired her to kickstart Project We Forgot to reach out to young caregivers like her, and offer support.
Damn. That was sad.
Melissa's story got us teary-eyed too, but it's also very inspiring, don't you think?
yeah!
Wow. The only time I couldn't bring myself to press the skip ad button.
What did you like about this this story, Ariella?
Our Better World it included a personal story with real life struggles that was delivered with a captivating animation. Most of all it felt true ... is what I think.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us, Ariella. We too were very moved by Melissa's story when she first shared it with us.
Ariella Shana on
Good video
can you tell me what kinda style animation like that?
Hi Kresna! The animation style used here is cel animation. It is traditional hand-drawn animation that gives the visuals their organic feel.
If you're in Singapore on 30 September, join us at We Remember - a festival commemorating World Alzheimer's Month. Siew May, the animator, will be sharing more about her experience working on this story. Here's more information on the event: projectweforgot.com/weremember/
Hope to see you there! :)
owh thank you, finally I know that animation style... thank you so much :)
I hope i can go there and join the festival
No worries, Kresna! Are you an animator? :)
If you're interested to check out the event, we do have some tickets to give away! Let us know by sending us a message here or on Facebook: facebook.com/ourbetterworld.org/