Puzzles

So, now all the articles mention to exercise your brain. There's sudoku, crossword, wordsearch, jigsaw, hidden picture, what's different, scramble, etc. I mean who doesn't like to challenge themselves to a good puzzle every now and then? Well, as long as we have all known grandmom LOVES to do crossword and jigsaw puzzles. I remember spending the night over grandmom and granddad's to wake up to granddad out and about somewhere and grandmom at the kitchen table or on the porch drinking her black coffee an doing a crossword puzzle. She would fill those puzzles out in no time...not giving anyone else even a chance to peek! We thought she must've been the smartest woman alive! (She would deny being smart if you asked, she was never fond of school.) Not only would she conquer crossword puzzles from the daily Sun paper, but every few days she would start a new jigsaw puzzle. We could walk in and just see a puzzle scattered all over her table. "The edges first!" she would say. Then she would sort them into colors, shapes, etc. The other rule she had when she would do the puzzles are "No peeking at the lid!" It was always so tempting too! I can honestly say, those memories are UNFORGETTABLE. She even remembers doing them, and you know what that's saying. That was then... Well, today is different. Grandma still attempts each daily crossword my mom sends over with her. Each day it gets more difficult and she gets less and less. I have yet to see her fill an entire puzzle out on her own. Some now even have scribbles from where she must've mixed up the across/down clues or forgot which one she was putting it in. She will put it down, take a break and sip her coffee, then pick it back up again, eventually not even paying it any mind. My girls love to do jigsaw puzzles, they get that from me, and I get that from her. If I had an extra table sitting around and the space, I would have a jigsaw puzzle out for her everyday. There was a time where I had one out on the dining room table and it lasted a good 5 minutes. Between grandma's lack of confidence and my children's wandering fingers...it was a fail. Now, Addison and I do smaller jigsaw puzzles everyday to pass the time and I'll leave it out on the floor when we are done and see grandma bend over and put a few pieces together here and there. This is more up her alley without making her feel belittled. She feels accomplished over putting those few pieces together and we will not judge! So, here she is trying to "exercise" her mind but with such a horrible disease like Alzheimer's it is almost impossible to conquer that puzzle sitting on your lap! I love how she still tries...those few pieces of puzzle she put together or clues she filled in are all she needs. Here is a picture of grandma putting together a United States puzzle that Addison ha dumped. I asked grandma if she would do me a "favor" and put it together...she has been working on it and has yet to give up!