Have you ever "known" something but had no proof? That happens to me a lot, and the wondrous thing that happens, is seemingly "out of the blue" you get confirmation and find you weren't crazy- you were right all along. This just happened again to me. I have been saying for quite awhile that Joe's awareness is back, even if it is only for a second or a minute, when he laughs. I have always laughed at all the "odd" things he says and does since having dementia, because to me "to laugh was to survive". The only other option is to cry, and I do my share of that anyway, so always better to laugh when you can. Every time I visit Joe and I make him laugh or he says something funny and he laughs, he is suddenly "present". Yes, it is fleeting often, but it feels good to see it. It must feel good for him too.
When my sister Nancy comes to visit him from Kansas, she loves to make him laugh. She just needs to be here more often as she livens things up for him a lot, and also dances with him! (that makes him smile)
A couple weeks ago I saw an article in the newspaper on laughter, and decided to read it. It was really about why laughter is so contagious and was written by Clay Thompson in "Valley 101", where people send in usually dumb questions, and he answers them. He nearly always makes the column funny, when he can, too. But there was more in the article that drew me, he said, " Now, this is kind of interesting. When you laugh at something, you activate the prefrontal cortex part of your brain. But if you are laughing because someone else is laughing (which Joe does also), you activate different parts of your brain-the anterior motor cortex and the nucleus accumbens (whatever all that means!), which is associated with your brain's reward system." He also says laughter is a bonding thing and it is relaxing and you never feel threatened when you are laughing with other people.
He continues, " We were probably laughing before we even had language."
I find this interesting, informative and confirming! Thank you, Clay!
It is always nice to see a moment of awareness in a person who has Alzheimer's and that is why laughter is so important. (well, one of the reasons- the other is it just makes you feel darn good, and we know it heals!)
