This is a beautiful story, Malky. Everyone was happier with your approach. Dementia doesn’t just run in my family, it gallops. You can’t fight it or fix it. I learned that many of our reactions to it are selfish. We want the person to be how they were more for us than for them.

I hear caregivers moan, “He was my rock and now it’s like he’s a different person.” Well, suck it up, buttercup! It’s your turn to be the rock and they are no more a different person than they were as an infant. I would never wish it on anyone but my loved one’s dementia made me a better person. Maybe that’s what it’s for.

The love you shared with your mother was her gift to you. You gave it back to her. Bravo!