BILLINGS — On the first Tuesday of each month, Big Sky Senior Services is hosted at Billings Public Library for its Memory Cafe, an activity-based support group for those with dementia and their caregivers.
“It’s a long goodbye, pretty much. You’re losing your person, but your person is still here," said Synja Serrano, who attended Tuesday's Memory Cafe with her grandmother, who was diagnosed with memory loss seven years ago.
According to caregivers, gatherings like Memory Cafe can brace those supporting people who have been diagnosed with memory loss diseases for what the future may hold.
"Right now, I’m cherishing all the things that we still have," said Diana Carroll, whose husband was diagnosed with dementia one year ago, "Being around people here, (who) have already had greater losses, it shows me (and) prepares me for what’s to come.”
Activities like Tuesday's rubber duck races can provide a mental breather for those living with and around memory loss.
“It does get lonely and isolating for both caretaker and our person. It’s just a nice little reprieve from - just our daily life," said Serrano.
Volunteers like Barb Ramlow, who lost her father to Alzheimer's, said it can be difficult for those who have not experienced memory loss diseases to understand how they fully impact someone's life.
“A lot of people think of it as just changes in memory, but there are a lot of changes, physical changes, emotional changes," said Ramlow.
Caretakers said spaces like Memory Cafe provide the ability to connect with those who personally understand the specific struggles related to memory care.
“It’s a different world, and it’s our connection to this other world. Whereas, at home, with our friends, with our church family, they feel bad of where we’re at," said Carroll, "We come here, and we all speak the same language here.”
