This is the 52nd instalment in a series on dementia, including the research into its causes and treatment, advice for carers, and stories of hope.
Christmas after my mother’s dementia became apparent was a tricky affair.
When we gathered as we had in previous years – all her children, many of her grandchildren – it quickly became clear she wasn’t sure who we all were.
This caused her some distress. She wasn’t sure who was giving her presents and whom she was meant to thank.
Finding a gift for her was difficult. She could no longer read and her prized puzzles had become an exercise in frustration. An adult colouring book sent her into a fury of feeling patronised.
I made playing cards with family photographs on them to help jog her memory.