At the Hershey Penn car show, my dad, who was well into Alz, walked up to a car. He looked, and said, Now that, son, is a rare car. You will never see another like it, anywhere. We talked to the man displaying it. It was the only car of that make and model in the world. I don’t know how he knew, but he did.
Daddy was in a nursing home. He was 90 and definitely losing his memory. He was aware enough to know he was and tried to conceal it.
Still he really could not recall much at all. I decided to bring some of his old WWII pictures to see if it would bring back memories. Actually they were mostly just after the war and in Berlin as he didn’t get a camera until the war ended.
I showed him a photo of the first Russian tank to enter Berlin and he immediately chuckled and told me a story about it that he had never mentioned before. It only lasted a couple of minutes but he was there again for a little while.
At least your dad calls you son. I am pretty mad at my mom’s doctor. He hasn’t told us that she has Alzheimer’s yet, only dementia, but my mom does not know that I am her daughter anymore. It is really hard to realize your own mom doesn’t recognize you, and has no idea of who you are or how you have a connection. None. Pray for me, FReepers. I am devastated sometimes by this realization. Other times I regain composure. I am the first of her six children that she doesn’t recognize (fifth in birth order). I’m sure she will forget the rest soon, but I am the first to deal with the loss in this fashion.
And it’s amazing how those bits of knowledge come out even in the midst of their mental confusion.