Dementia means losing those you love twice

Watch above: Global National anchor, Dawna Friesen, opens up about her family and its battle with dementia in a special presentation for 16×9.

Earlier this week, I put our Easter decorations away for another year.

Our children have grown and the bunny doesn’t visit our house anymore, but I like to pull out the two dozen beautifully decorated blown eggs their grandmother made.

Barbara loved crafts and she was very talented.

The eggs are painted, and some have sequins, pearls, yarn and other flourishes added. I hang them from our dining room lights.

They remind me not only of happier times with her, but also of the first time I realized just how much dementia had taken ahold of her.

It was several years ago, while we were eating dinner, that she commented on the beautiful decorations and asked if I had made them.

I was taken aback, but our daughter, just entering her teens, immediately replied “No grandma, you did”.

A couple of years later, Barbara asked her husband of 55 years “Have you seen my husband?”

“Yes, I see him everyday,” my father-in-law would answer.

READ MORE: Inside the world of dementia, as a painful reality sets in

I didn’t really know much about dementia before my mother-in-law descended into that hell.

Looking back, there are so many stages, but there are two that stand out for me.

One was when she looked hard at me and said “I’m sorry dear, I know you’re important, but I don’t know who you are.”

I could sense her panic and frustration; she knew something was very wrong, but she was already so lost.

I remember another time when the nurse told her she had a visitor, it was her son, and she answered “I don’t have any sons”.

In fact, she had two sons who had been her pride and joy.

Our story is not unique, on the contrary it’s far too common.

Almost every one of my friends has someone in their extended family suffering from this cruel, debilitating disease.

READ MORE: Dementia: What are the early warning signs and symptoms?

My aunt has it now and my mom will not accept that soon her sister will not know her or anyone else who mattered in her life. I have warned her, but it’s a hard thing to grasp.

My colleague Dawna Friesen knows what dementia is, and what it steals, not only from those who suffer it, but also from those who love them.

She bravely told the story of her parents this week on Global National.

Her story is also part of the one hour 16×9 special “The Unspooling Mind” at 7pm Saturday.

READ MORE: ‘Dementia will affect you’: Dawna Friesen shares her family’s struggle

Dementia means losing those you love twice because they say goodbye to you long before they leave this world, while you agonize to ensure they’re properly looked after.

Science is making it possible for us to live longer, but not in the way many of us envisioned ending our days.

Several viewers have responded to Global National anchor Dawna Friesen’s personal story, of dealing with her parents’ battle with dementia, by sharing their struggles and experiences with a condition that affects more than 44 million people worldwide.

The story also prompted members of our team to discuss how dementia has affected their lives, including Global National News Director Doriana Temolo.