“He’s having a senior moment.” That dismissive phrase seems harmless, but, in reality, it leads to devastating, debilitating disease.
I firmly believe that a generation from now, people will not know the pain of watching a loved one slip into oblivion. But the only way we will get there is we stop dismissing memory loss and other behaviors as “normal aging.”
The recent news that former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is retiring from public life as a result of dementia hit the Alzheimer’s community hard. Reading stories about her decision is like reading the obituary of someone who is still alive. Dementia is robbing this great mind of her capacities and this great spirit of her passions.