People with dementia live in a world not governed by time or logic. You sometimes feel that you are raising a child all over again. When it's your parent--one that used to be so self-sufficient--it can be heartbreaking, frustrating, annoying and maddening. So often I find myself expecting her to be as she used to be and I get mad when she isn't. It's like a child who is bigger or taller for their age--you expect them to be as mature as they appear. Even though I start off the day with hopeful, calm thoughts in my approach to her, I have already lost my composure at least three times and had to just breathe. And that's how it goes all day, every day. I just have to breathe.
