Those of us who are or have been primary caregivers of loved ones with dementia are painfully aware of the term, “the long goodbye.”
For years, we watch them slowly slip away while remaining physically present. Their memory loss causes them pain, frustration, agitation, fear, confusion and any number of other emotions associated with losing touch with everything and everyone they knew.
Watching that causes us to grieve in a way different from any grief I have ever experienced before. For me, there has been grief plus all the same emotions felt by my wife — pain, frustration, agitation, fear and confusion…