...the kind and compassionate and sensitive thing.

You know, folks, I think it’s all right to be in denial. About dementia. To some degree. It really doesn’t hurt. Particularly in the early stages. It’s nice to have some doubts. That maybe it isn’t Alzheimer’s. Jeanne and I both had doubts early on. That maybe it was just that Jeanne was getting a little lazy mentally. And that with a bit more mental stimulation, everything would be all right. After all, Jeanne had retired not all that long ago. And maybe the tendency is to slow down. To not push one’s self as hard as one used to. If this assumption did nothing else, it helped to improve Jeanne’s morale. And my morale. Really, no harm in that, is there? It really put Jeanne at ease. Made her far less worried. And that really improved her mental performance, it seems to me. Because a relaxed brain works more efficiently than an uptight one. So, what I’m doing here, I guess, is advocating a little bit of denial. Oh, it comes to the point when denial isn’t good any more. One needs to frankly admit to the problem, and deal with it head-on. By the time that happened, maybe Jeanne was beyond the point of worry. Or at least beyond the point of serious worry. So, denial for a while was the kind and compassionate and sensitive thing, it seems to me. --Jim Broede