Encroaching Dementia? by Elizabeth Emerald Artwork by MoonWillow at FanArtReview.com |
My friend Donna is in the process of extricating herself from a five-month relationship with a man who is (paraphrasing) romantically moronic and pragmatically idiotic. Dave is hopelessly inept in practical matters. His daughter tells Donna he's always been book brilliant and otherwise clueless. His wife of 52 years, one of the early victims of Corona, assumed all responsibility for shopping and cooking. Dave's approach to meal preparation is to dial 1-800-DOM-INOS. Dave's idea of frozen corn is to stick a can in the freezer. Really? Notwithstanding his deficiencies, Dave continues to hold a seasonal position as a software tester for a tax preparation service. His manager has already indicated he'll be asked to return next spring. My father was much like Dave, a competent lawyer who was doltish on the home front. Nonetheless, he was eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease at age 70. In retrospect, despite his "always being like this," there were signs of decline; his dementia became manifest when he began to screw up at work. I shared my Dad's story with Donna. So, what's up with Dave? Donna wonders. She feels guilty abandoning a potentially demented man. Even so, having been there done that as regards care-taking, she's decided to bail out. Thus, she may never learn the answer to her question.
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Elizabeth Emerald
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