The Dementia Timeline Nobody Explains

Something shifted and you’re not entirely sure when. There was a moment, or maybe a slow accumulation of moments, when your parent started repeating a question they’d just asked. When they got confused about a day of the week. When they couldn’t find the word for something ordinary. Each time, there was an explanation. Tiredness. Stress. Just getting older.

Then the moments came closer together, and the explanations started to feel thinner. You looked things up late at night, in language that felt both too clinical and not quite right. You may have said the word dementia to yourself, quietly, before saying it to anyone else.