[CaptainCrunch]

Really long term bump.


I lost an uncle today from the same monster that took my mom. In the end he wasn't the person he was and he slowly starved to death, but he had been gone for a long time before today.



My uncle was a farmer, he had a lovely wife, my aunt who died of cancer years ago, but he carried on.


When I was a kid, I'd spend my summers out of the farm working, driving tractors, and helping with the cattle, and helping him fix his vehicles and building.



He lived a very simple happy life. In the summers he'd farm, in the winter he'd curl, and in the spring, he'd try to get out to golf. He had two great kids a boy and a girl, who he was always proud of.



He was funny and charming, and simple.



But Dementia robbed him of that first, then took away his ability to function, leaving him speechless and frustrated and at times unpredictable.



I was thinking about that last night. Out of our entire extended family, my parents, my aunts and uncles, out of all of those only one Aunt and my Dad are left, and my Dad is really slowing down now.



I can't say it enough, Dementia is awful because it robs the person of what they were, and it robs the family of the person they remembered and laughed and cried and argued and hugged. It takes away that person's fondest memories, and then it takes them, slowly.


RIP Uncle, I wouldn't be able to change a spark plug without you.