Thread:CantWin4NutN/@comment-31615118-20190202171415/@comment-35243530-20190202192319

Oh no!! We are going to miss you so very, very much!! Somehow I can’t imagine the game without seeing Abby’s sweet little face on a daily basis (I’ve never mentioned it but my BFF has a dog named Abby who looks nearly identical. She actually lives with my BFF’s ex now, but they’re good friends, so she sees her often.) - she always makes me smile! You were one of the first wiki people I met and was friended by. I will always appreciate that!! You helped me out so much in those early days - I appreciated your generosity so much!! And you’ve done such an amazing job on the wiki too! I’ve always known I could turn to you if I needed to. Thank you!!

I totally understand about your Mom, though. My mother also has dementia, so I’m well aware of the challenges. It bothers her immensely that she can no longer remember things from one minute to the next. Thank goodness she can still remember the long past past!! But there are days when she panics because she can’t find my Dad, having forgotten that he has passed away. Then she demands to know why no one told her and she can’t recall the funeral happening. It’s sad, really. They say if you get her to repeat something 12 to 20 times it will help her to remember it. I’ve found this to be true. It’s not repeating it that many times in a row, but reinforcing it that many times over the course of an hour or two can embed it in her mind. Mum doesn’t live with us - Dad moved her back to the town where she was born and raised - but I spend a good deal of the warmer months at our cottage nearby, so I see her daily then and the rest of the time I’m on call if she needs me. But she’s in excellent hands at the retirement facility she lives in! And she loves her little apartment there, along with the semi-independence it provides. Her medications were adjusted last summer, and she’s much calmer as a resul, while still very alert, so I’m finding we’re no longer fighting either. YAY!!

You’re an amazing woman for taking on her care!! It’s so hard to watch someone you love deteriorate in this manner! Please be certain to take some “me” time on a regular basis in order to avoid burnout. It’s what eventually took my Dad’s life, but I also watched him grow impatient with her because he never really got a break from caring for her. I know that ate at him too, as he loved her so much! My Dad was loved by everyone he met. When they moved in to the very swank retirement home he chose, it was for her - he would have chosen something very modest had it just been for him. (It’s funny, because both my sister and I thought he deserved only the best and would have fought him tooth and nail on that!)

I’m a bit confused... Are you leaving us now or at the end of this event? Will Chester be leaving us too? It won’t be the same without you!! But I hope you’ll keep in touch. Know that I’m only a messsge away should you ever need a shoulder or an ear.

Hugs!!

Mistress Kat