Easter eggs and Alzheimer's: A tradition with a new twist
My mom’s journey with Alzheimer’s eventually affected many holiday traditions. One came around Easter: Alicia dyeing eggs with her Nana. Even when Alicia became a teenager, we continued the annual fun together.
The year Mom moved into memory care that would no longer be possible. But I found a creative way to keep Alicia connected with her grandmother and that beloved tradition, despite the change.
On her facility’s social media, I saw photos of Mom and fellow residents “dyeing” eggs in a new way, with something that looked like shaving cream. I reached out and asked their wonderful activities director about the process.
She had used Cool Whip and food dye. What a brilliant idea. The process was not overly messy, no cups of staining liquid could be knocked over, and the activities staff did not have to worry if someone put whipped cream or messy fingers in their mouths. (I still giggle at how several sweet residents ate more candy than they put on their gingerbread houses during a Christmas activity.)
I decided Alicia and I would do the same. We could not dye eggs with Mom, but we could dye ours the same way she had. Both of us doing the same thing across the miles bonded us to her.
I purchased supplies, and Alicia and I spent a fun afternoon “dyeing” eggs with whipped topping and food coloring. I can still manage to make a mess, even with a relatively mess-free project, but miraculously no tables, floors or clothing were stained in the process.
I showed Alicia photos Mom’s facility had made of the residents doing their eggs. And we marveled at our beautiful results.
My daughter and I ate dipped apple slices and graham crackers in the leftover, un-food-colored Cool Whip later, proud of trying a new way to do a holiday craft.
And we felt satisfied that despite having to change a tradition, we still found a way to keep a thread of connection to Mom in our hearts.
