She repeats a story over and over

and you try and respond in a way that she will realize she just told you the same story... only she doesn't, it is a new thought for her that she is just sharing with you.

Sometimes the stories make no sense at all, she thinks something happened to her as she describes the scene but then mentions she did not see it happen? It is confusing for us both as I try and keep up with our conversations and figure out what to do or say to help her. Sometimes it is just a matter of changing the subject, but other times, even that will just be a temporary detour until she leads back to the last repeated story.

Some stories are so hurtful to her, she cries every time she tells them, as if they just happened, while others bring out the anger and frustration and they are hurtful to others. Right now she believes she is being punished because her car was taken away, no matter how often I try and tell her it is for her safety, its as if she doesn't hear as she reverts back to "I was bad and got my car taken away."

A heartbreaking thing to watch as she tortures herself wondering what she's done wrong, why someone may not like her, or how her mind relates what is happening to her.

A vocabulary that is getting smaller by day, she has less to say unless she is sure of her words. Sometimes the word is there, but the pronunciation is off. Some of those words can make you chuckle... and I guess its just a matter of sanity

The brain is such a mystery and like the unknown in Deb's recovery, we don't know how quickly her decline will happen with this dementia? All we can do is take it one day at a time and enjoy the moments we do get with her, even if they too are only fleeting positive ones.