VASCULAR DEMENTIA IN THE ELDERLY: COWS BEAUTIFUL COWS

Cows had been part of my mother's life since 1959.   Actually, she and my  dad owned cows even before that, but it was in 1959 that she moved right into the middle of a pasture filled with herefords.  She always said she had been a tomboy, and after that move we all believed it.  She was comfortable living in a house where cows summoned you out of bed with their bawling "give me some hay" cries.  They scratched themselves on the boards of the house, and left organic gifts in the driveway and yard. 

From the large picture window in the living room of the ranch style house, a style popular in the late 50s and early 60s, one could view the whole herd, eating hay,  playing, stomping the earth,  bumping into one another like the rudest of shoppers at a firesale,  and running with no apparent goal in sight.    Large mama cows, and in the spring, cavorting babies, running and chasing each other in the bright green grass under the oak trees near the pond, or tank, as Texans label such bodies of water.  And observing it all with a stern eye, the sultan ruling his harem, stood the bull.

When she was younger and raising a family, the cows provided extra money.  They also made for a lot of extra work.  Saturdays, after she had worked all week at her bookkeeping job for a highway construction company, were often spent eartagging, branding, and treating cattle for grubworm.  It was the only time to do it, and she actually enjoyed it.   Further proof of her "tomboyishness", or perhaps her love for her husband. 

After being widowed at age 58, we (her daughters) thought she would likely give up the cattle.  Our brother and she agreed on a business arrangement, and she kept them.

When she retired at age 62, we (again, her daughters) thought she would give up the cows.  She did not.  She started talking at age 65 about giving them up at age 70; at age 70, she talked about giving them up at 75.  After 75, she stopped talking about giving them up.  Our brother still did the heavy work, and they still had a business arrangement, but she never gave them up.  One day in 2006, when she could no longer live alone, she simply had to leave them. 

DEMENTIA HINT:  Be sure that your parent has a durable power of attorney in place many years before it is needed.  It may be necessary to take over aspects of their financial dealings, and having the legal authority given before your parent shows any signs of dementia makes things much easier.