Dementia: ‘He’s right there next to me, but also so far away’

  Tina Turner comes on the radio and Joseph jumps out of his chair. His eyes light up and he starts to hum alongside the music. He smiles as he sings, happily remembering the words, reliving his youth, but unable to find that same familiarity in those around him. Joseph is trapped in his past. He is living with Alzheimer’s, and it is getting worse. “First it was the little things; he lost his keys,...