Shock at seeing the reality of dementia

Maru

Our local library held its first Memory Cafe yesterday…for caretakers of people with dementia and their partner. My DH is in early Stage 4 and seems "normal" most of the time. There were several people there who were quite advanced in dementia. Although I have read everything about dementia and watched numerous videos, I was shocked to see it up close. We spent time with one beautiful lady, the wife of one of the men in our ALZ support group. She was so joyful and tried to be interactive (within her own reality) but very deep into dementia. I was deeply touched to see how tender and loving he was with her. I gave me a new understanding of what he talks about in our support group. I pray that I will be so loving and gentle when my DH's dementia deepens.

The experience gave me such a deep appreciation of what many of you caretakers are going through as you live with your partner in full blown dementia. Hats off to all of you.

blacksparky

And also to you. It’s a tough journey but glad we have each other to vent and understand us.

Jgirl57

I’m glad you attended the Memory Cafe. We enjoyed it for about a year until my DH was no longer able to. Our group leader also gave us a bunch of information for resources in our area and that was really beneficial. It’s good to meet others on the same path. Thanks for sharing.