Does someone in your life have dementia? My father has Alzheimer's disease. This year has been even harder because of it. When the pandemic hit and everything shut down our lives all changed but especially my father's. His schedule was gone. The bus didn't come to pick him up for his day program three times a week. He didn't have his volunteer job at the Alzheimer's center anymore. He and my mother were home alone basically all the time. They are both 80 or older now. It was too dangerous to let them run their errands. My sister went to see them every weekend to run errands and give my mom a break. This summer while staying at the family house near them my family experienced the first time we knew my father had no idea who we were. He was spending the day with us and woke up from a nap and kept talking about wanting to see my mother by her first name. I couldn't calm him until I called my mother to come get him. It was heartbreaking for me. I was use to being called by one of my sisters' name--he has been doing that my whole life--but this time it was obvious he had no idea I was his daughter or that Hazel was his granddaughter. It is so hard to deal with for me and I can only imagine what it is like for Hazel. Today's book is to help teens and even tweens understand dementia and find ways to relate to the loved one with dementia. It is A Loved One with Dementia by Jean Rawitt. It is part of the Empowering You series.
