Very OT: "Till Dementia Do Us Part?"

Oh honey, I've read the article and do you mean like being married to a 82 year old billionaire with Alzheimers who I'm constantly having to remind him to give me money while spending it on a 21 year hot Cuban lover named Rico... It sounds quite idyllic and a bit Lana Turner-ish as well. Do you know anyone?

This is so true. I spent two and half years taking care of my mother who had Alzheimer's before it became too much for me; although in hindsight, it was probably too much even before then. Anyhow, she passed away this past August after only being in a memory care facility for less than three months, and while I was very moved by how many people came to her showing and funeral, I have to admit that there was a very small part of me that was wondering where all these people were when she was suffering from Alzheimer's. Not that I expected help from them, and I understood that everyone was busy with their own lives, but I just thought about how even if they would have just stopped by to visit once in awhile, how nice that would have been because I felt so isolated at that time.

I think with a lot of them it made them uncomfortable seeing how the Alzheimer's changed her so much, and I understand that, yet during the few days after I reached out to people that hospice had told me that she didn't have much time left, I was just amazed by how many people suddenly showed up and were offering their support to me when during the past two and a half years or so, most of them hadn't stopped by to visit or even phoned or texted to see how she was doing that time. I don't know maybe they were being insincere about their support, but being only human, I admit that I did have feelings of resentment. Now I've let it go because I'm just happy in a way that she was able to pass away very peacefully, and that she wasn't suffering anymore because I know that in my heart she never wanted to get anywhere near as bad as she did (incontinent, getting violent at times, basically not remembering to eat or drink during several times of her disease because the Alzheimer's had affected that part of her brain, not being able to communicate). 

It's just an awful, awful disease, and I don't blame people who take their lives after being diagnosed with it. I often wonder if my mom would have done that, but by the time she was diagnosed, she was pretty far gone already because she just went downhill so rapidly.