Dirty talk but you both use your customer service voice
You’re laughing. Environmentalists and Elon Musk haters teamed up to build and somehow actually send a giant space Roomba to orbit to get rid of all of the floating space garbage and Elon Musk’s satellites that then accidentally destroyed half of the ISS before exploding and turning into more space garbage and you’re laughing?
Carroll Spinney, above, is the puppeteer who plays Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street. He did a reddit today, and his first answer is a tear jerker.
“Oh yeah, every time that dad forgets mom is dead, we head to the cemetery so he can see her gravestone.”
WHAT. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard some version of this awful story. Stop taking people with dementia to the cemetery. Seriously. I cringe every single time someone tells me about their “plan” to remind a loved one that their loved one is dead.
I also hear this a lot: “I keep reminding mom that her sister is dead, and sometimes she recalls it once I’ve said it.” That’s still not a good thing. Why are we trying to force people to remember that their loved ones have passed away?
If your loved one with dementia has lost track of their timeline, and forgotten that a loved one is dead, don’t remind them. What’s the point of reintroducing that kind of pain? Here’s the thing: they will forget again, and they will ask again. You’re never, ever, ever, going to “convince” them of something permanently.
Instead, do this:
“Dad, where do you think mom is?”
When he tells you the answer, repeat that answer to him and assert that it sounds correct. For example, if he says, “I think mom is at work,” say, “Yes, that sounds right, I think she must be at work.” If he says, “I think she passed away,” say, “Yes, she passed away.”
People like the answer that they gave you. Also, it takes you off the hook to “come up with something” that satisfies them. Then, twenty minutes later, when they ask where mom is, repeat what they originally told you.
Not sure how this works. I'll figure things out as I go. But for now, I hope what I have isn't difficult to navigate.
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