We use the phrase “losing a parent” when they pass away, but often we lose them years earlier, due to dementia. By the time they pass away, you’ve already lost them for many years.

Random thoughts:

• Are both losses equal?
• If they differ, in what ways?
  • One is a sudden loss, the other is a gradual loss.
• When a parent/friend passes away, we often think of the things we should have said or done. Should we have thought about those things before/during the first loss to dementia?