ALIVE WITH ALZHEIMER'S

I came by lucky accident on the first day of this very moving exhibit. My mother
has severe dementia; these pictures have helped me understand her current
experience. Thank you Cathy Greenblat and BRAVO!!!

Seeing the challenges that are before each of us presented so beautifully and
lovingly, I’m moved to want to do more with the elders in my life. Living to the
end with dignity, compassion, and caring — so important. Thank you so much for
sharing this exhibit widely.

A view full of humanity and love. Deeply moving.

Difficult subject, very touching achievement, full of sensitivity. Bravo and thank
you.

Touching images. Very beautiful theme. Thank you for this beautiful adventure.
Thank you very much.

Very good approach to the human condition and in this case, particularly difficult,
and thank you for this exhibit. Doctor Andrere, generalist

By chance we passed by here. What an emotion! Maryann

Having lived with this with my mother, I can say that this also gives true moments
of happiness to those who accompany them. Thank you for this evidence.

It is magnificent, moving. I am 22 years old, unemployed. This has given me the
desire to give to others. Thank you, Audrey

A moving testimony without being fatalistic. An image perhaps more acceptable of
getting old… a new image, even… Thank you.

Thank you for this moment of emotion that you knew how to let us share. The truths
that we often refuse to appreciate, because we live them with pain, and there, by
magic, photographs lead us to discover them. Brigitte

It is evident that your eye knew how to follow the subtle path that goes from the
heart to the soul. Thank you for the approach.

I am 33 years old, single, with an interesting life… I don’t know, but when I saw
the pictures, I started to cry. Is it fear? Compassion? I can’t say, but thank you
for these moving pictures. I love my life even more now! Miryan

This exhibit of photos is very interesting because it shows our human old people,
who we usually hide in old age homes or keep well isolated. An administrator of
3rd age (over 60), Simon

I am leaving with tears in my eyes. This exhibit shows that old people that we hide
have a life, still. They are touching, moving, beautiful. Bravo for these photos,
of a rare sensitivity. Amelie.

This exhibit is very moving, and shows with a great deal of simplicity what the
media, such as the television, cannot tell us. The look of all these people is
worth much more than a long discussion. Sarah

Avery intense moment of looking with compassion, of touching in silence. A magic
moment with beings who are both strong and fragile. My heart beats hard… you offer
a tender hand in love and light. Thank you Cathy

This exhibit shows an image of old people and of people different than what we
think. Lucrezia, 12 years old

Beautiful way of inviting us to not lose the thread connecting us to our close ones,
and our close ones concerned with this illness. Right near us, in Nice, there is a
magnificent team (with Huguetta Drera) that leads this type of accompaniment, to
the end (France Alzheimer, Cote d’Azur). Thank you for these photographs,
unexpected, discovered on a day that I was not expecting it. RCB

Dear Cathy, we invite you to come to our class of 1 SUS 14 at the high school
Estienne d’Ivres in order to come to speak to us about your passion. We are all
touched by your messages about the sick people. Thank you, the students {I have
learned that these are 16 and 17 year old nursing students}

Moving, magnificent… how to explain it ! This exhibit makes us conscious that
despite the malady, the old people continue to live, to enjoy themselves… which is not the case of everyone, even healthy people.

These photographs almost succeed in convincing me that it is possible to accept a
life that I always considered totally unacceptable. But one must have a great
investment of tenderness, of patience, and of good will ! And at the price of a
short term investment, also. It is an exhibit that raises many questions, notably:
to what point is life worth living?

And here are excerpts from long notes from 2 people who saw the exhibit at a conference center in
Chiba, Japan in August 2003: ten images from Silverado were shown, with no text, no
captions (the exhibit also had 10 of my photos from Mexico)

Dear Cathy,
I saw your photographs this morning. I was alone and had no text at hand.
The impression was very deep and strong. I thought about life, death, time, love.
Many things came to my mind and some of them were painful. I imagined that the
younger people were relatives, not caregivers. I think it was because of the
attitudes, the kind and warm feelings shown in the photos. … When I got some
information from talking to you about who all these people are, I understood how
it was possible to accept all these photos and not to be depressed. I tried again
and again, and I saw life, death, time, love from another point of view. This time
it was I saw more. I saw that Alzheimer's could be an exit instead of a dead end.
I found that there was a lot of optimism in walking hand in hand in sorrow. I felt
light, life and even could imagine some colors in the photos. The idea is fantastic.
Well done, good job. Maybe it could be not only a book but an exhibition which can
be moved from town to town, from one country to another. I think it is important to
be aware that you need to love and help old people not after their death or only
in your mind but to do this when they are alive.
Thank you for our wonderful work. Nina from Saint-Petersburg (Russia)"


Dear Cathy,
The photos impressed me a lot, especially as I like and collect postcards with
black and white photos and use them with my students of psychology. I remembered
some of my own experiences when I was a student and worked in a hospital for old
people and also in a psychiatric hospital. I always feel a little bit sad to see,
in reality as well as in your photos, old people who are left alone. I am impressed
with these photos that show how important it is for these people to establish or
continue to have a relationship; maybe it is another person who talks with you, or
a cat sitting on top of your body that can give some feeling to be not alone. And
we see that a wonderful way to feel that there is someone who cares about you is
through music. I like that your photos show both the sad situation of having
Alzheimer's and also examples of how to overcome the sdadness by giving love and
bringing interaction. Only a little effort is needed to make the other person
smile and feel loved, but we all should be more aware and should value this little
effort.
Thanks, Willy, Munich