What Do We Remember?

At the time of this project, I was living with and caring for my 84-year-old grandmother, who, during the pandemic, was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. For this work I wanted to show that those living with early-onset Alzheimer’s often cannot recall events from the past one to five years, yet can still access memories from much further back — from their own childhood and from their children’s and grandchildren’s early years. I also wanted to emphasize that, even as she searched for those recent memories, my grandmother tried her best to remember while retaining much of her dignity and quiet strength.