Family life with a dementia patient

Suddenly, everything is different – the course of the day, everything familiar and even the little things of everyday life. What does the diagnosis of Alzheimer disease mean to patients and those close to them? How do their families cope with it? A mother and her daughter relate their experiences.

One sunny Wednesday afternoon in Minden in Westphalia – an idyllic place in the middle of the country. Cornfields and ancient, gnarled trees as far as the eye can see. In between, a few farms and houses. This is where Ute and Udo Rodenberg live with their daughter Nele. There is a photo of an old man on the table in the living room – Horst Gottwald, Ute Rodenberg’s father. The whole family called him “Grandpa Horst”.

Foto: Michael Hagedorn, www.michaelhagedorn.de

Horst Gottwald died in the winter of 2007, but the memory of him is still very much alive. He rebuilt his house and the neighbouring barn himself. As a former metalworker at a shipyard on the River Weser, Horst Gottwald was a practical man, a do-it-yourself enthusiast. And he collected, amongst other things, old sewing machines and ship propellers: one is still in the family’s garden.

Horst Gottwald had Alzheimer disease. As is so often the case, with him the disease began gradually – hardly noticeably, and the first signs were difficult to interpret.