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Laury Thilleman is close to her grandmother, Mamie Yvonne. But the latter, for ten years, no longer recognizes it. For Brut, she recounts her fight against Alzheimer’s disease.
“My grandmother, I always make her smell the smell of lavender. Then she talks to you about what it reminds her of when she was little.“Laury Thilleman still calls her grandmother Mamie Yvonne, even though she no longer distinguishes her as her granddaughter. “A little over ten years ago, it was discovered that she had Alzheimer’s disease”, explains the former Miss.
The diagnosis was not easy to establish. “We begin to ask ourselves questions about inconsistencies, whether in speech or in actions. Grandma Yvonne, she forgot if she had eaten, for example. She was super independent, so she drove her car, but on the highway, she could go 50 km/h you know, or in town at 110 km/h instead of 50 km/h. Gradually, to withdraw this independence from her, it was very complicated when we realized that she was putting her life in danger.”
Despite everything, Laury Thilleman takes advantage of every opportunity to spend time with her grandmother. “Today, we no longer have too many discussions, but we sing, we dance. That’s something that revives our connection a little. Because poetry, songs, love too, today are the only moments of real connection I have with my grandma and that… It doesn’t escape“, she admits.