The child of the veteran actress Caridad Sanchez shared her meeting with her mother who has dementia.
Cathy Babao through her Instagram shared her ‘unusual’ moment with her mother, saying that the gestures by the veteran actress surprised her.
According to her, she couldn’t stop her emotion when her 90-year-old mother recognized her during their meeting.
“Mom gave me an unusual welcome today before our usual Sunday lunch. When we arrived, she pulled me close and hugged me very tight. She held me for what felt like an eternity like she didn’t want to let me go. It kind of scared me. Afterward, then she grabbed me by my right arm and pinched me so hard. What a grip! Although it hurt so much, I took it as her expression of joy over seeing us today,” said Cathy.
“Sometimes mom thinks we are sisters, or that I’m her best friend. Occasionally, I’m still her daughter and she will call me by my childhood nickname, Kate. I’ve always said that in the dementia journey, it is only the mind that malfunctions but never the heart.
“Today over lunch, as I sometimes do, to help jog her memory, I asked her who I was in relation to her, wondering if today I would be daughter, sister, or BFF. “What are we? Who am I to you,” I asked her. She looked me straight in the eye, in between bites of her favorite JT’s inasal, she replied, “Love. You are love. I love you very much.” I got so choked up. It was an answer that I did not expect. I held back my tears and said, “I love you too, mom.”
“The journey of loving and caring for a parent or a loved one with dementia is never easy. There’s a reason why it’s called the long goodbye. I believe that God in His infinite wisdom and goodness, grants us grace filled moments to soothe the heart to help us carry on.”
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It can be recalled that Cathy revealed the condition of her mother in 2020, but her brother Alexander Babao denied the status of the veteran actress.
According to Alexander, Cathy didn’t show respect to the privacy of their mother who’s one of the most highly-respected artists in the country.
She started her career as an actress in 1958 and officially retired from acting in 2015.