Dink

Dormilee is her name.
The young kids in the extended family found it impossible to say "Aunt Dormilee" so somewhere amidst the childish chatter her name became "Aunt Dink".  The name stuck.  The kids call her Dink.  And her 5 sisters also began calling her Dink.  Dormilee never really liked the name, but she really had no choice in the matter, so her family knows her as Dink, with the exception of my sister and I - we call her Mom.

Mom is 83.
My parents were married for 63 years before Dad passed 5 years ago.
As they aged the love that had been, faded.  Raised in a generation that frowned upon divorce, they remained together, tethered by duty and finances.  It worked for them, and though they argued a LOT they remained together, "till death do us part". 

Mom cared for Dad round-the-clock during the last three years of his life as he faded into the grips of Alzheimer's.  She is an amazing woman, proud, strong, and fiercely independent.  Fast forward 6 years and now Dink has been diagnosed with Dementia.  It has been a trying time.

Mom flourished after Dad passed.
She enjoyed a freedom she had never really known before.
She played Bridge with a group of women each week.
She ran errands.
She attended church.
Though not really a "people person" she enjoyed being part of a small group of women who were in her Sunday School class.  Each Sunday after church they went to a restaurant for Sunday lunch.  She enjoyed her family, also.  She began going to family functions with more regularity and though the family offered her rides to these events she refused, and chose to drive herself, even though the family lived far across town from her.

Mom had always had a feisty side and often had "troubles" with neighbors.  One neighbor in particular caused her grief - Jim.  Through the years they aggravated each other - it seemed a fairly even match.  Then, about three years ago, Mom began to tell all sorts of tales about Jim.  She accused him of knocking on her windows during the nights.  She told of him "walking on the roof" during the nights - she thought he did all of this in an effort to annoy her.  At times she thought he could hear her conversations within the house.  She talked to us, her family, about Jim.  Jim is in his early 60's -  we knew he wasn't walking on her roof.  We also knew he was not brazen enough to knock on her windows during the nights.  Mom called the police and reported Jim on several occasions.  The police came and left.  Mom followed up with a visit to an attorney to seek action against Jim.  The attorney never followed up.  We, the family, listened to Mom's tales and tried to reassure her that all was well.  Mom had a security system and double locks on all doors.  We knew that she was safe...My Sister  began to tell Mom that Jim was not actually doing all the things Mom accused him of.  This made for a horrible rift between Mom and my sister for a time.

These episodes with "Jackass Jim", as she began to call him, were the beginning of what we would later look back on as the beginning of her dementia.