Jim and Marg

Two years ago, we learned Marg had vascular dementia. We knew something was different; we saw changes in Marg’s memory beforehand, but we kept putting it off as we thought it could just be normal aging.

Marg didn’t accept her diagnosis very well at first. She had a hard time knowing she was losing bits and pieces of her memory—names of familiar people, along with not being able to do things with ease as she had previously. It was hard to accept that things would be different.

We were encouraged to attend meetings at the Alzheimer Society to learn more about dementia, how it will affect our lives and what we could do to adapt to the changes we were facing. We met with a number of wonderful people at the Society who helped us see things in a brighter light.

We were advised to speak with close relatives and friends about the changes we were facing, to share with them so we were not alone on this journey. By doing so, they had a better understanding of what Marg was saying and doing, and why some things may have been disconnected to the reality they were seeing.

We were also introduced to a group of others facing the dementia journey. They met every Friday morning for breakfast. This was a turning point for us: we had people to talk to, new friends who we can share and discuss with who understand.

Now, we don’t feel so alone anymore. We’re not isolated like we were that first year. We found light in this disease!