The Long Goodbye

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t may be, in The Gospel According to Neil, better to burn out than to fade away, but, what if that’s not really an option…?

For many, seeing their parents return to a childlike state, unable to function independently, is a tough but necessary road to travel.

Even tougher is when that parent begins to lose all sense of self, as their memory fades ever further into a milky haze.

For Rose Henderson, whilst witnessing her own father’s slow fade into Alzheimer’s, a big part of the family’s coping mechanism was humour. Jack, an engineer, taught his family a valuable lesson, says Rose. “My father taught us about staying in the present,” she says, “because that’s where he lived. We had to learn to never ask a question that didn’t have the answer in the room. His intelligence made life a crossword puzzle to be solved.

“I believe humour is the only way to survive,” concludes Rose, “if the topic visits you.”

Teaming up with fellow actor, Pat Nolan, the star of Father Ted, Fair City and Nowhere Fast put together a tribute of sorts to her father, Take Off Your Cornflakes being both a joy and a heartbreak as a family learns how to laugh in the face of death.

Which, when you come to think of it, is the only response death truly deserves. As we found out when we visited Ms Henderson in, fittingly enough, her rose garden…

You can check out Take Off Your Cornflakes at The Whale on Saturday, 29th September 2018 here, and view our May video chat with Rose and Isobel Mahon here.