As mentioned often, my wife was afflicted by early-onset Dementia in 2017, and her decline has been steady. My job as her only caregiver has been a great challenge, especially with her needing near-total care.
She can sort of eat food with help, and still can walk usually, but the single greatest difficulty is aphasia. Without normal conversation, I can never be certain she understands me. She will laugh at some of my off-beat humor at times and has moments where she will offer a kiss and a hug, and a garbled "I love you" - that is the extent of our intimacy.
I suppose I am too frail a human who craves more but I will not abandon her. I have learned to be a better caregiver and understand that a person affected by dementia, memory loss and aphasia can have short spans of lucidness, but there is no cure and no reversal of her condition.
I half jokingly say that cats, dogs, and humans can adapt to almost anything, and so it is with me. I have adapted.
There is only the slimmest chance for some semblance of a normal social life, as people do not know how to behave in my wife's presence, and I can not leave her alone.
