Beth Malone: How my dad's dementia changed my idea of death (and life)
بيث مالون: كيف غيَّر خرف أبي فكرتي عن الموت (والحياة)
TED Resident Beth Malone brings bold art to public spaces across the US, encouraging artists to have a sense of humor, to be vulnerable and take creative risks. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
that hits people in their 50s or 60s.
في الخمسينيات أوالستينيات من عمرهم.
someone's personality,
with his own hands.
with the falsetto singing voice
ذو الصوت عالي الطبقة
for round-the-clock care
إلى مرفق للرعاية المستمرة
and I made the mistake
and afternoon art classes
ودروس الفن بعد الظهر
everybody with cutlery.
the curtains off the wall,
to throw plants out the window.
the old ladies out of their wheelchairs."
من كراسيهن المتحركة."
a bunch of state-run facilities
التي تُديرها الدولة
specifically for people with dementia.
خاص بالأشخاص المصابين بالخرف.
on the ground wearing a onesie --
مرتديًا رداءً ذو قطعة واحدة؛
that zip in the back.
الذي يُغلق بسَحَّاب خلفي.
as he yanked at it,
وهو يسحبه بشدة،
coming out of the pit of my belly.
was worth living anymore.
مازال يستحق أن يُعاش.
to prioritize productivity.
من الأولويات.
an Adonis in this case --
وهو أدونيس في هذه الحالة -
in the way we expect him to be,
was that my dad was being tortured
كان يتعرض للتعذيب
the vessel of that torture.
I'm going to kill Dad.
سأقتل أبي.
to live the rest of your life
how to buy heroin."
about his death a lot.
كيف سيكون ذلك؟
about death when we were all healthy.
عندما كنا جميعا بصحة جيدة.
and then a support group,
when they're worried about loved ones.
عندما يكونون قلقين على أحبائهم.
and it's OK to go when you're ready.
وأنه لا بأس في ذهابك عندما تكون مستعدا.
on the ground in the onesie.
مرتديًا الرداء وحيد القطعة.
and just kind of looking at the ground.
about nothing in particular,
he sneezed from the ginger ale.
it jerked his body upright,
and sparking, over and over and over again
and he was looking at me,
يمكنك أن تموت،
because I'm just a mess.
he seemed kind of OK.
بدا بخير نوعًا ما.
was still attached to his body.
لأن روحه ما تزال في جسده.
as father and daughter.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Beth Malone - Social entrepreneur, artistTED Resident Beth Malone brings bold art to public spaces across the US, encouraging artists to have a sense of humor, to be vulnerable and take creative risks.
Why you should listen
Beth Malone is executive director and partner at Dashboard US, an award-winning, experimental creative agency. Dashboard has presented exhibitions and special artist projects in cities around the country including New York, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Detroit. Dashboard has commissioned new, nontraditional works from over 200 artists.
Malone encourages artists to have a sense of humor, to be vulnerable and take creative risks, a practice she employed for herself when processing illness, caretaking and death. In 2014, she and her dad were sitting on a couch in a psychiatric hospital in Atlanta, GA. He looked at her and said, "I’m gonna be lost after this. After this, I’m gonna be gone." In August 2017, her dad passed away from frontotemporal lobe dementia -- just two months after she gave her TED Talk. It was a good death.
Beth Malone | Speaker | TED.com