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Bob: Jo is my wife and she is fantastic, and you know she is very good at keeping me reasonably
under control.
Jo: We met through a mutual friend and of course we were in London at the time and because
he came from Yorkshire we had something in common to start with. I had only just gone
down South and it was really nice to meet a young man from the North. He's always been
a very good driver and very good at finding his way to places with a marvellous sense
of direction and that started to go and I sort of knew inside that it was going to be
serious. It took quite a long time to get a diagnosis from first seeing our doctor.
We were told very plainly at the memory service that there was, in early stages of Alzheimer's,
that it was incurable and that it was progressive and they told us that nearly straight away
which was hard to take but it was necessary.
Bob: We knew where we were we knew where we were at we knew what was ahead of us and it
was then a question of well we can all pack it in and go home or we are going to tackle
this. There are things that, things that I know and that I know I know but then when
it comes to the crunch I forget them. I'm just frustrated I think is the main word.
Jo: Now he is a really considerate man, he hates to hurt me and make me upset but it
does make me upset. We've been married for about 48 years now and I miss the companionship
more than anything else.
Bob: If things are not going smoothly then you get, I sort of get up tight about it,
I don't think I get violently upset or violently antagonistic at all. It upsets me to think
of the effect I am having on Jo.
Jo: We still have a cuddle but when I am cross and tired I pull back and I am finding it's
quite necessary sometimes to distance myself because Bob is more like a child now and not
my husband. He's still very dear to me, I love him dearly but it's different.
Bob: You know life if harder anyway irrespective of the situation, life is harder when you
get to a certain age.
Jo: We are so used to each other, we've been together so many years there isn't any discomfort
or embarrassment and as a matter of fact I've got my own bedroom. So I made a room nice
for me and now I sleep in it, but last thing at night every evening I get in to bed with
Bob and we have a read together, something really light and funny and in bed when Bob's
reading to me, because he does the reading to me, it's just like old times.
Bob: We are both having to work a bit harder on it. I know I can't cure it but I shall
make sure that you know, I'm not going to give in.