Dementia

[poliphilo]

He's well into his nineties. He was an officer on one of the British warships that sunk the Scharnhorst. Last time we spent time with him he was a quiet courtly gentleman and now there are only traces of that person left. He didn't know who we were. "I have a name in my mind- Canon W". Canon W was his grandfather. "My aunt was a famous woman but I can't remember her name. Who was she?" "I don't know, John." Hands to forehead. "Nobody tells me anything". He runs his carer ragged ( It was his carer we'd mainly come to see.) After a couple of hours he was bristling. "Are you all right, John?" "No, I'm not all right. I'm tired."