I have been remiss. I am sorry.

This was started a few months ago….. things have changed but the irony is still there ..

I am sat here getting dad ready this morning having to once again this week (it’s only Wednesday) to reprogram all his tv channels as he keeps fiddling with the control. Hide it you say? Been there done that. Take it away you say? Then he can’t turn it off….

So here is the ironic part of this story.

My dad has dementia. I am no doctor but I know it comes in stages and I can categorically state that we have gone down a stage…. eating has proved this over the last month but I won’t bore you with that.

So. My parents (catch up for those who don’t read my blogs regularly) are divorced and have been for years.

Dad is Portuguese and mum is English. Dad has dementia. Ordinary normal boring dementia. He’s 68 (I know I know that’s young.. but apparently not). So mums’ dad (my grandad) also has dementia. We have suspected that he has had it for a while but when you’re 88 people just think you’re getting old…. but he doesn’t have the ordinary boring one. He has vascular dementia and from what we understand that’s no party; for anyone.

He lives alone. Mum moved to France 2 years ago. Ironically she’s left Blighty and dad came back…. she has her life but he’s alone down there with daily visits from a carer but I have been doing this for a little longer and these dementia bad boys don’t do things if they’re not watched and grandad is not eating. 7.5 stone is what he weighs. Turns out he’s been hiding his food… all of it. Why you ask? That’s the million dollar question with dementia! No one knows and you can’t really ask them because let’s face it they don’t remember going to the toilet some of the time let alone forgetting to eat!

So there is the ironic theme to today’s blog. 2 men from the same family (only by marriage) a generation apart with very different upbringings and cultures and yet both have this god awful disease. Both had their ups and downs. Both successful business owners who enjoyed the fruits of their labour. Yet dad blew it all.. dementia has been blamed for that but grandad? He squirrelled it all!

So there is a moral too. Enjoy life and the money you make. Don’t hold on to it too much because at some point you may loose it all and all you will have is that shell that you arrived with.. Plus that birthday suit!

Me? I will keep buying shoes because I am not only helping the economy but I am living my life… happy Wednesday