All done - £20 in memory of a loved one and all those who are dealing with this illness.
Nice one, Norm.
My Step-Dad was the most perfect Grampy Mike, to my kids. They adored him and he had all the time in the world for them, and me, as they grew up.
He was an inspiration to me. He taught me family values, I hadn’t previously understood. He taught me patience, he taught me how to cook a banging Sunday dinner, and cooking in general. He was a wonderfully kind, gentle man. The biggest man I ever knew.
Ten years or so ago, we were watching the rugby together (Eng v Fra) and he said something weird like, “why are all those guys playing with elephant ears?”
We‘d shared a bottle of red, by then, so i laughed it off, but a couple of weeks later he started saying he could see squirrels running across his sofa.
These moments came and went, but the strange things happened more frequently, so Mum took him to the docs.
It took a few months, but I remember her calling me to say he had been diagnosed with Lewi Bodies disease (dementia).
This was a particularly vicious version, and he quickly deteriorated.
Mum sold their house and we moved them closer to us, to a bigger town, where he had more of the things around him, community, shops (butcher, baker etc) where he could walk out (flat surfaces etc), that he liked and needed, but he was soon housebound. We had the house remodelled, so he could sleep downstairs with en suite and everything he wanted at hand, but quickly he would call this his prison. He said he lived with two Sandra’s. His wife (my Mum) and his jailer. He became physically hard to handle when agitated, and Mum called me one night to say she was frightened he would hurt her.
On Christmas Day, 2015 he was sectioned into a specialist hospital. He regressed and died on March 13th.
The help and support we received from friends, family, social services and the Alzheimer’s Society will never be forgotten.
RIP Mike
www.alzheimers.org.uk
