Real stories

My dad’s dementia journey inspired us to create gifts for others

My dad Brian was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2002 and he died 17 years later, so his dementia journey was a slow one.

I always say that caring for him was like parenting a teenager. Teenagers go through stages and what was appropriate to say to them before suddenly isn’t any more. And it was same with Dad.

But because we had the chance to spend lots of time with him, we had the opportunity to meet him at each of his stages.

Dementia stages

As Dad’s dementia progressed, it became harder to connect with him and it became impossible to give him presents. He remembered that you’re supposed to open them but that’s about it.

A chance incident when Dad had forgotten that the trees blossom in the spring got me thinking that, if I looked at the world through his eyes, perhaps we could connect.

Our grandson was three at the time. I was talking with my husband Chris about how maybe Dad would respond to things our grandson liked.

So I bought Dad a wooden train set. We looked at it, we took it apart, we investigated it, we put it back together and we played with it. 

He wasn’t reticent about whether he had the ability to do it. He felt empowered by it.

After this positive experience, we tried colouring books too and we bought a second-hand wooden box to store trinkets that had meaning for Dad. He loved it. We would take it everywhere.

Meaningful connection

I managed to keep a connection going with Dad up until he passed away in 2019.

But not everyone’s so lucky. Care homes can be a sterile environment and the thought of people just sitting and waiting for some engagement and stimulation troubled me.

After he died, I started thinking about how I could give the connection Dad and I had to other people.

Dementia-friendly gifts

Chris and I had an idea to design gifts that would help other people find moments of shared joy. We wanted to share what we had learned with Dad.

Our research showed that there was plenty of evidence to back us up and gave us insights that helped us design better.

We thought, ‘Why hasn’t anybody done something?’ and decided we’d do it.

Timeless Presents officially started trading in September 2023. We’re a great team and have complementary skills. At a time when we could be winding down, Chris and I are entering a new chapter.

We’ve got too much to do. We’ve got three products so far, all things Dad would have enjoyed, and we have big plans. We’d love to bring our train set to market.

I’ll be honest – I'm looking to share our message with the whole world!