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Hi, Jeri,
First of all, let me express my sorrow about your loss. I can only imagine how difficult your dad's death is for you.
As to your question, Nina's right. Although it will be tempting to keep telling your mom that her husband died, it's better to gloss over that with a white lie. As difficult as that is, you risk a traumatic outburst by bringing the death up; also, because of the loss of short-term memory, you risk having these outbursts recur since she'll keep bringing up "Where's Dad?" Although we didn't experience a similar loss when Mom was still alive and suffering from Alzheimer's, my mom did ask periodically about her parents (obviously, long deceased). I would tell her that I haven't seen them in awhile, and then move the topic to something that was easier to discuss. I came to the decision that it wasn't worth the emotional distress that I would continually cause by telling her that her parents (which she just claimed to have "seen") had died.
Again, I am so sorry about your family's loss. Take care and keep us posted!
Dorian