For the life of me I can't remember why?
Easy enough to make a joke. Perhaps that is fear of dementia striking. We think we see the signs every day:-
Where did I put my keys...?
I never forget a face but what was your name again...?
That sounds awfully familiar...?
Can you catch dementia from a book?
Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlant attempts to get inside the mind of a person with dementia. It is a novel/dark thriller with a sting in the tale, but with so much more. On page 203 a detective is talking to Jennifer, the protagonist and prime suspect, who is dementing but perhaps not so gently:-
People think it's just forgetting your keys, she says. Or the words for things. But there are the personality changes. The mood swings. The hostility and even violence. Even from the gentlest person in the world. You lose the person you love. and you are left with the shell.Nicci French and S J Watson appear to rate it!
She stops and pauses. Do you know what I'm talking about?
I nod. My mother.
The woman nods back. And you are expected to go on loving them even when they are no longer there. You are supposed to be loyal. It's not that other people expect it. It's that you expect it of yourself. And you long for it to be over soon.
