lived experience

My father had frontotempral demenria and it was not an easy road for anybody in our family.  Symptoms of this sort of dementia include angry outbursts, a lack of common sense and inappropriate behavior because there is no concept of others and their needs.  My mother was blind as a bat in her later years and he literally kept her hostage in their home, the one in which I currently live.  For about ten years following his diagnosis, he was a force to be reckoned with.  My brother, daughter and I worked tirelessly to try and make things a bit better for Mom.  The main characteristic of his dementia seemed to be control.  He turned mean, if you will.  All of this is to say that I recognize the behavior of Trump because I have lived with it.  Only my dad wasn't POTUS, thank goodness.  He would have settled 8 wars and started 5 more.  

There is one particular instance that I remember distinctly.  I got a call from my mother that Daddy had fallen while out walking on Samaria Bend.  He walked a lot with his head down not really enjoying the scenery but on a mission.  Our neighbor down the road called somebody who then called me and I was faced with the task of cleaning up his bloody body.  He refused ambulance transport ( go figure ) and I patched him up as best I could.  

They did not have home health because he was adamant that they were just fine.  He hated the social worker who showed up to work on a plan to make their last days easier.  It was a nightmare and battle of the wills. Billy was always a stubborn type and the dementia magnified that part of his personality,  The day that we took his keys away was the beginning of the end.  I was the bad guy.  Not pretty.  This was a man who was raised as a poor sharecrpper's son and never forgot it.  Compare and contrast this with the current situation in the white house.  Daddy didn't have nuclear codes or insider trading deals.  He was just one man trying to control the universe.  Sound familiar?  Anywho, y'all stay warm and keep the faith ^j^