My Journey Through Dementia
When my wife Jackie was diagnosed with dementia, the world didn’t fall apart all at once.
It tilted—quietly, strangely—and nothing ever quite stood upright again.
At first, we tried to carry on as though life hadn’t changed.
But of course it had.
And over the months and years that followed, we walked a road I never imagined we’d be travelling:
the appointments, the small losses, the unexpected moments of humour, the fear, the tenderness, and the long slow goodbye that dementia brings.
This series is not a medical guide.
It is simply my story, told in stages—the way it actually unfolded.
I’ve written it because when Jackie and I began this journey, I couldn’t find anything that spoke to the emotional reality of caring for someone you love through dementia, or what happens after the funeral, when the house falls silent and you’re left asking, “Who am I now?”
If you’re caring for someone with dementia…
If you’ve recently lost someone…
If you are simply trying to make sense of the days that follow—
I hope you will find something here that helps you feel less alone.
Below are the chapters of our journey.
They follow the real timeline as we lived it:
13. What I Wish Someone Had Told Me
This isn’t an instruction manual, and I don’t claim to have done everything right.
But it is truthful.
And sometimes, truth told openly is the thing that helps most.
Wherever you are in your own story, you are welcome here.