10 years ago, my mom and dad left the home where they raised their eight children and moved into an assisted living community. Sadly, my dad passed away shortly after the move.

Although my mom missed him greatly, she was able to distract herself from her sadness by keeping engaged in the community activities and socializing with the other residents.

Everything changed about 8 months ago when we started to notice the progression of her dementia symptoms. My mom was becoming easily confused, forgetful and disoriented. The worst part of it is that she is realizing what is happening and it is really frustrating her.

For those of you who have a loved one living with dementia, try for just a moment and put yourself in their shoes and consider how difficult this journey is for everyone involved. This is an exercise of empathy that I do myself and share with my clients to be able to understand their loved one’s perspective.