had attended showers and sent gifts and attended ceremonies. It was fair play. You gave. You got. It was part of our lives to help set the course for our children’s lives also.
One evening, Gretchen called in a panic, saying her dress didn’t fit. Solome flew to New York and met her for a fitting. There wasn’t time to have it altered in there. Solome brought the dress back to St. Paul and took it to a seamstress she knew.
When Solome was in New York, she called the night before she returned.
“Have you fed Brown?”
There was silence.
“Go out and do it now.”
I hung up without thinking to say, good-bye.
Solome Savard
Solome and Stephen had new material from the Alzheimer’s Association. Someone to stand by you. The heading read. She looked up from the chair angrily. Where was the someone? Not in her living room. She looked at the sofa. The arm chairs. The small tables. She looked at the lamps. The recessed lighting she’d put in the ceiling to light the corners of the room. She looked at the pictures. The room was her. All her. She was happy with her house. But who was the someone standing by her? She looked at the pamphlets. No, there was no one in her house.
Great strides had been made, the summer issue began. Two new drugs had been approved by the FDA for treatment of the disease. Tracine and donepezil hydrochloride. She couldn’t even pronounce them. Several other drugs were currently in development to help improve memory and alleviate or postpone symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. More pharmacological treatment options were expected with the next eighteen months.
What were these words saying? They were sunflowers with heads too heavy to hold up. Had she seen a picture of sunflowers? In the travel section of the Sunday paper? Not that she remembered.
She returned to the pamphlet. One of the communication systems in the brain, the cholinergic system, is defective in individuals with Alzheimer’s. In the brain, acetylcholine, one type of neurotransmitter involved in nerve cell communication, delivers messages from one nerve cell to another. An enzyme called, acetylcholi-nesterase, breaks down acetylcholine after it is used. Otherwise it accumulates between nerve cells.
These words are monkeys, she thought. Chattering to no one. Solome felt her throat close momentarily as the lump brought up the tears.
Research has shown that there is not enough acetylcholine in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s. By inhibiting the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, scientists hope to keep higher concentrations of acetylcholine intact.
Tracine and donepezil hydrochloride function as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, and decrease the breakdown of acetylcholine.
Solome turned to the first of the article. Were Tracine and donepezil hydrochloride the two drugs mentioned at the beginning? She’d forgotten, but found that they were.
Could she hand out Alzheimer’s pamphlets with the wedding programs? The beginning and the end.
Late in May, Gretchen faxed the program for the wedding. Solome had to find the printer and then fax Gretchen the choice of fonts. She sat in the print shop proof reading while she waited for Gretchen’s response.
Prelude
Seating of the Parents
Processional
“Canon in D,” Pachelbel
“Trumpet Voluntary,” Clarke
Call to Worship
Scripture Reading
I Corinthians 13:1–8
Prayer
Appreciation
Questions of Intent
Meditation
The Prophet, “On Marriage,” Kahlil Gibran
Vows of Marriage
Exchange of Rings
Lighting of the Unity Candle
“Concerto for 2 Violins & Orchestra in D Minor,” Bach
Scripture Reading
Ecclesiastes 4:9–12
Prayer
“The Lord’s Prayer,” Malotte
Pronouncement
Benediction
Introduction
Recessional
“Hornpipe,” Handel
“The Rejoicing,” Handel
Solome proof-read the names of the Maid of Honor, Bridesmaids, Best Man, Groomsmen, Ring Bearer, Reader, Parents, Minister, Greeters and Ushers.
Solome tried to pick up the programs from the printers on Wednesday after work, but the store was closed by the time she got there in traffic. On Thursday, she called the Minnesota Historical Society and told them she couldn’t come to work on Friday. She might have to miss more days because of the wedding. She didn’t even have time to read the newspaper. Why was her voice shaky? Why did she nearly cry?
How inconvenient it was to have Gretchen out of town. How many phone calls? How many questions would Solome have to answer by herself? She decided to clear a place in Soos’ room. She couldn’t return with the baby before the wedding. The yard man moved a picnic table upstairs for the wedding gifts.
Mark couldn’t return to his room because Dennis was there. He was angry that he was moved out of his own room. But he suggested they help him pay for an apartment he found near the college, which he was going to ask them for anyway, which they already had anticipated.
“Dennis is only here for the weekend,” Solome told Mark. “You can stay with a friend for a day or two.”
“They’re all moving. No one has a place. They want to stay with me.”
“Stay in the new apartment then.”
“There’s no bed.”
“Use your sleeping bag.”
“On a hardwood floor?”
“Go buy a bed this afternoon.”
“I want my own bed.”
“You can have it after the wedding.”
“I just finished my finals. You didn’t even ask.”
“Mark, I have more on my mind than I can handle at the moment,” Solome said. “Why can’t you see that? I’m sorry I didn’t ask about your finals. How were they?”
“Nothing you would care to ask.”
