“i don’t know who she is, but she loves me”

Multiple Percussion

When my grandfather was struggling with Alzheimer’s disease, I remember my mother telling me a story. The story went that every day, an Alzheimer patient’s wife would come to the facility where he lived to eat meals and spend time with him. One day, one of the facility’s caretakers asked the man who she was to him. His response was “I don’t know who she is, but she loves me.” Looking back I wonder if this story was just a tale, or if the patient was my grandfather. This multiple percussion solo is dedicated to my grandfather and grandmother who were diagnosed with Alzheimer's.