Beth Malone: How my dad's dementia changed my idea of death (and life)
Beth Malone: Comment mon père atteint de démence a changé mon regard sur la mort (la vie aussi)
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.
lobaire fronto-temporale, ou DLFT.
that hits people in their 50s or 60s.
touchant les gens de 50 à 70 ans.
someone's personality,
la personnalité des gens,
ou même violents.
il est devenu vraiment malade
with his own hands.
with the falsetto singing voice
qui chante d'une voix de fausset,
for round-the-clock care
de soins continus
and I made the mistake
et moi avons commis l'erreur
and afternoon art classes
des cours d'art l'après-midi
arrêté votre père.
everybody with cutlery.
avec des couverts.
the curtains off the wall,
to throw plants out the window.
des plantes par la fenêtre.
the old ladies out of their wheelchairs."
de leur fauteuil roulant.
a bunch of state-run facilities
d'un centre public à l'autre
specifically for people with dementia.
pour les personnes atteintes de démence.
on the ground wearing a onesie --
dans sa combinaison,
that zip in the back.
à fermeture éclair dans le dos.
as he yanked at it,
tirer sur la combinaison,
une camisole de force.
sortait du creux de mon ventre.
coming out of the pit of my belly.
was worth living anymore.
valait encore la peine d'être vécue.
to prioritize productivity.
pour valoriser la productivité.
an Adonis in this case --
in the way we expect him to be,
selon nos attentes envers lui,
was that my dad was being tortured
mon père était sous la torture
the vessel of that torture.
I'm going to kill Dad.
Je vais tuer mon père.
to live the rest of your life
how to buy heroin."
où acheter de l'héroïne. »
about his death a lot.
about death when we were all healthy.
quand nous étions tous en bonne santé.
tuer mon père à l'héroïne
sortir de ce corps.
and then a support group,
when they're worried about loved ones.
inquiets pour leurs proches.
and it's OK to go when you're ready.
et qu'il peut s'en aller s'il est prêt.
on the ground in the onesie.
dans sa combinaison.
and just kind of looking at the ground.
ou fixait le sol.
about nothing in particular,
à lui parler sans but précis
he sneezed from the ginger ale.
il a éternué en buvant le soda
it jerked his body upright,
a légèrement redressé son corps,
and sparking, over and over and over again
à éternuer et à reprendre vie
and he was looking at me,
et il me regardait.
because I'm just a mess.
et je me suis assise à côté de lui
he seemed kind of OK.
depuis longtemps,
was still attached to his body.
soit encore attaché à son corps.
de cette personne.
de nous aider, lui et moi,
as father and daughter.
nos rôles de père et de fille.
comme nous l'avons toujours fait.
tous les deux.
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