Life With Alzheimer’s

Re “Remembrance of Things Present,� Commentary, April 3:

Most of us base our images of those afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease by what we see on those dramatic prime-time TV shows: The senile man who, after losing all his dignity, chooses to relieve his sufferings by ending his life. Rarely do we see someone do justice to those afflicted by Alzheimer’s by offering an image of a person whose life can still be meaningful, as Jenijoy La Belle does.

True, Alzheimer’s is a tragic and devastating disease, one we all disdain. Yet to treat a person as if his life has lost any real dignity, any meaning or purpose, is no worse than ridiculing that person. Alzheimer’s takes its toll on its victims, and we only exacerbate the suffering by pitying and alienating. Those dear to us remain dear, disease or no disease.

JACOB DUBOIS

San Dimas