Tested but trying
Caring for my dad Member since June 01, 2011I am a retired registered nurse who has been divorced for a very long time. Prior to caring for my parents .. which began in 2003, I led an active social life and worked at independent projects. I enjoyed spur of the moment trips and entertaining my friends in my home. Mother and Dad were divorced for years and each had remarried and lost their subsequent spouses. I cared for Mother for about a year before she went to live with my sister and then my Dad moved in with me. His move was supposed to be a brief stay until he chose an assisted living community but he has always been frugal and decided he would stay with me because I did all the cooking, shopping, laundry and house work and he had very little expense. He was 84 when he came here. I could see then that his thought processes were slow but he was very ritualistic and kept his own schedule. He gradually lost the ability to manage his finances, drive his vehicle and is now often unable to even recall my name. He cannot use the phone or the TV remote and does not know the names of food on his plate. He has had a very bad time over the past 6 months and also has numerous health issues besides the dementia. Mother passed away within months of moving in with my sister. Daddy passed away on Oct 20, 2012. I miss him very much ... He was a very sweet man but extremely stubborn and very much stuck in his ways.