This is my Dad, Bob Daly before he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s six years ago.  He was working full time at a funeral home as an attendant.  He had his own home, car and was very independent. Shortly after he moved in with my daughter and I. He spent a several years living with each of my sisters and now lives in an assisted living facility here in Charlotte, NC.

   He has become very frail and thin now. It is painful to watch the slow progression of the disease take his mind and body. He always looks so frightened and confused. Each time I visit I end up sitting in the parking lot crying before I leave.  But not going to visit him is not an option.  He was a great Dad, reliable, loyal, and strong. Fun to be around, all the kids loved him.  He was smart, could fix anything and loved to go camping and traveling with the whole family.  Now, it is hard to convince him to leave his apartment and go get groceries.

   He used to love music so, I gave him a radio/CD player for his apt.  He can’t seem to remember how to turn it on though. He used to sing to us when we were kids all the time.  Now, he can’t remember the words to any songs. It breaks my heart when I see the diseases symptoms of anger and aggression.  He was always so gentle and reasonable; he just wanted us kids to do the right thing.

   So I go and visit, watch him point to the lamp and call it a fan, see him standing in his kitchen just looking around and I know he has forgotten why he went in there.  I know he is frightened and so am I for that matter.  But there is nothing I can do but, love him and wait with him for the disease to take him. In the meantime try to make his life good for him in little ways.