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Daddy's Story

A few months ago, as my sister and I cared for our father one afternoon, he looked up at us in fear and confusion. We calmed him, but the confusion did not go away.

Daddy finally said he did not know who we were. We explained that we were his daughters. Still confused, he apologized for not knowing and was ashamed of his lack of memory. He lamented about not knowing his own children’s names and could not understand why that was happening. We reminded him that everyone forgets things from time-to-time and it was OK that he did not know us. We both told him how much we loved him and that it did not matter if he did not remember us, we still knew he loved us and we him. It was painful to watch this strong man take on the look and hesitation of a fearful child.

Eventually clarity returned that day, but as the weeks went on, some things were forgotten or were more difficult to remember: that he had just eaten, that he was 93 and not sixty-something, where he was and the name of his late wife.

Daddy’s memory decline had come on suddenly over the past year. There were signs that we never understood were pointing to Alzheimer’s, mostly the retelling of stories over the last few years from time-to-time. We would sometimes roll our eyes or remind him that we had heard the stories so many times already, never understanding that he probably could not recall telling them.

Our father died on November 7, 2020. We will miss the retelling of those stories.

A cure for Alzheimer’s did not come in his lifetime, but hopefully your contributions will help lead to one. Thank you for your support of the research and other work made possible by the Alzheimer’s Association.