When caring for people with dementia it is easy to become depressed. To feel as though nothing will get better and it only will get worse. It is tempting to let yourself slip into a sort of apathy, thinking "what does it matter if I engage him in conversation, he doesn't even know it's me?"
But you can't! Because there are victories to be had, lessons to be learned, and joy to be given, even amidst the pain. That point was driven home today as I talked to my grandfather as he ate his dinner. Every day for the last two weeks I have, in addition to our normal conversation, asked him the same three questions. One he always gets right, one he sometimes gets right, and one he never gets right. But tonight, when I asked him the question that usually stumps and confuses him, he sat up, thought about it and then proudly proclaimed that his dog's name was indeed Seamus. A victory!
On the topic of victories, the flowers in the pictures began blooming a couple of weeks ago (evidently unaware that it is the dead of winter) on a beautiful green ivy arrangement we have in our home. What a wonderful present!
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