"My grandmother was in her 90’s when she succumbed to dementia. It’s difficult to describe what it’s like watching that happen to someone you admire as a role model, someone who looked after you and built up your self-esteem so that you could go out in the world. When I was a child, she used to pick me up from school in the afternoons and keep me until my parents got off work. I always insisted she tell me stories; I was nuts for them. She made them up, based off of her own life experiences I guess, and always made me the hero. I'll always remember that about her.
"She began developing dementia just before my senior year in high school. She hurt her back that summer, and it seems like the pain she experienced may have triggered the downward spiral. I remember having to force her to eat because she just wouldn’t. Then when I went off to college, I could only visit infrequently, and my name gradually disappeared from her memory. She somehow knew who I was but couldn’t place me with the name ‘Abbie’ unless I was with my mother. It’s like she remembered me as a child but couldn’t remember who I was as an adult. Watching her decline was awful. It's what this exhibition is about: The process of creating these ceramic pieces has helped me work through the pain of losing her.
"She was an incredible woman. In the 1950’s, after her husband died and while her children were still young, she left Arkansas and moved to Memphis. She raised her children as a single mother at a time when it was frowned on for a woman to be alone. After her daughters were grown, she sought her own adventures. She saw Israel; she went to Canada. She taught me to always seek adventure, no matter your age.
"If I had to choose one word to describe my grandmother, it would be ‘Courageous.’ I just hope I have some of her courage."
"She began developing dementia just before my senior year in high school. She hurt her back that summer, and it seems like the pain she experienced may have triggered the downward spiral. I remember having to force her to eat because she just wouldn’t. Then when I went off to college, I could only visit infrequently, and my name gradually disappeared from her memory. She somehow knew who I was but couldn’t place me with the name ‘Abbie’ unless I was with my mother. It’s like she remembered me as a child but couldn’t remember who I was as an adult. Watching her decline was awful. It's what this exhibition is about: The process of creating these ceramic pieces has helped me work through the pain of losing her.
"She was an incredible woman. In the 1950’s, after her husband died and while her children were still young, she left Arkansas and moved to Memphis. She raised her children as a single mother at a time when it was frowned on for a woman to be alone. After her daughters were grown, she sought her own adventures. She saw Israel; she went to Canada. She taught me to always seek adventure, no matter your age.
"If I had to choose one word to describe my grandmother, it would be ‘Courageous.’ I just hope I have some of her courage."
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