I know my Mom misses my Dad. She never talks about him anymore. She used to ask why he died, but the questions stopped. Her inability to really perceive time might be a blessing since most days she thinks he died years ago instead of months.
I’m still working through my grief. i wonder how grief works when you have dementia?
Several months ago I bought her “shopping list” notepads. While my Mom enjoys the trips, if she didn’t write the grocery list herself, she challenges the validity that the item is needed.
She usually has a list now. It may take her 10 or 20 minutes to find it, but our trip goes much easier when the list is in her own handwriting.
On our last trip. she gave me her list and on the top had written “We (I) need” – I never mentioned it but watch for the moments when I can share a fun story about Dad. Remembered
.
That’s sweet and sad. I also wonder how dementia sufferers experience grief. I think for some, the forgetting helps dull the grief, but for others, they forget their loved one is dead and experience fresh grief over and over.