my aunt died of dementia, now my dads got it i went to see him 2weeks ago, after chatting for 20mins, he said, ive got a son like you, are you my son, youll never know how much that hit me, hes now in a care home

My sister, Rosemary lives 200 miles from us & because I have been receiving chemotherapy treatment I have been unable to see her for six months.I have just received a video showing her yesterday & I am so shocked by how much she has deteriorated. She has followed the same pattern as our Mother 20 years ago.
I support Alzheimers Society because it is important that this horrible disease is defeated in the next 50 years so that noone has to suffer in the same way as my family has.

My grandma Gertrude Tomlinson died in hospital from dementia 30 years ago , it is a terrible disease . It effects all the family . So every little helps in the battle for a cure

Mum was diagnosed in March 2020, just a few days before the first Covid lockdown. Unfortunately, this meant it was a year before she saw any specialist. We tried to keep her safe, but she didn't understand why she had to stay at home. After a few weeks, we decided to carry on as if Covid wasn't happening. The government advice was to look after the vulnerable and continuing as normal was the best decision. Mum improved to the extent that occasional lapses of memory and confusion became the new normal. While almost everyone caught Covid, sometimes more than once, Mum, Dad and I never did. Not once and never have. We were just lucky. It's 6 years now and Mum has deteriorated. She had a spell in hospital last year, but was eventually discharged. She's back living at home. It's often frustrating, and you have to take the rough with the smooth, but it's not too bad. Occasional respite is important though.

My grandfather, Charlie was a fit , healthy man for the majority of his life . He was a small holder and market gardener, outdoors most of the time …fair weather or foul . What he didn’t know about nature wasn’t worth knowing!
Charlie developed dementia and we , the family , started to lose him ,gradually at first . But one day he opened the door to me and told me to go away …he didn’t know me any more . Although he was still sound physically he was suffering from something cruel , insidious and incurable.
So this is for Charlie . 1910 - 1997

My granddad was a lovely old man, who when I was small taught me how to read and instilled in me a love of books that I still have. As he grew older he developed dementia and often I was the only person who could cope with him.
He died when I was just 16 yrs old and to this day I still miss him even after 60 years.