I compare the situation with have a toddler going through terrible two’s… My Dad is going through the terrible 80’s. It’s heartbreaking & hilarious all at the same time…
My Dad can’t sit still some days, he wanders off & fidgets with things that may be considered dangerous. I feel like I have to be constantly watching out for his safety… it’s pretty tiring. You can’t treat your own parent like a toddler…
It’s interesting when my Dad talks to me about me. For instance, to keep dad busy we go for drives with the dogs & they run along beside the car and dad loves it & he looks for deer & watches the dogs run around… yesterday at lunch, he proceeded to tell me about the nice lady he runs dogs with and how fun it is… at least I’m a nice lady…
We bought a used jeep a week ago & Dad & I drove it out the highway to take my dog to daycare & the jeep started doing the ‘death wobble’. It scared the crap out of Dad & he was hanging on for dear life. He then tells me about ‘him & this guy’ who had to drop off the vehicle because they went for a drive and the vehicle started shaking like crazy! So, in that scenario, I’d be the guy…
Myself & my sister have now both gotten in big trouble for stopping at red lights… apparently Red means go in Dads mind & we’re supposed to just keep on driving… My partner & I have both gotten scolded for using the door… we’ve discussed it, it really is the only way to enter & exit the house. He is waited on hand & foot, but complains about the food, he gets mad sometimes because he wants more pills than i give him… what do you do when it’s your Dad? I can’t send him to his room… I continue to be patient & repeat myself. I don’t argue or correct him as advised by the dementia internet research.
The logic & common sense have evaporated.
I think about how mean my Dad would be to my brother if my brother did some of the things my Dad has been doing lately, it’s an interesting kind of karma. It would serve no purpose to be cruel, but to see him deteriorate this way is it’s own form of punishment i suppose.
We all start to deteriorate in one way or another around late 30’s / early 40s. Technically, based on statistics, 40 is over the hill. Other seniors stay sharp until the end. Dementia & Alzheimer’s are a deterioration of certain parts of the brain & it’s a different kind of demon…
Holly's Not Real 
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