An Ugly American

[Joyfull]

there have been many discussions such as this with the usual irellevant back whens,but, this is the first time I've seen dementia and alzheimers mentioned and it is truly relevant. We had a truly bizarre neighbor who disturbed the neighborhood at all hours. The police wouldn't do anything because she was "crazy". To whom would people turn? This is going to become a bigger and bigger issue as our concentrated population ages.

For those simply exercising their right to be abusive, we need to call the police, even if the mexicans won't. Sometimes they are too nice for their own good.

I'll bring this issue to the medical committee of the municipality - how to deal with elders with mental health issues in the general public - too often families won't act.

I'll also bring the issue to the police committee on developing procedure

this is so true Harry. My sweet Jewish mother was first diagnosed with Alzheimer's at age 76. She was able to live on her own another 3 years. I lived out of state and at age 79 I moved her into an independent living facility to be closer to me. She was able to live there 2 years until we needed more care. During that time she wanted to go to the dentist to get her teeth cleaned. I took her to my dentist who was female. During her visit there she got extremely belligerent and rude to the Doctor and then slapped her across the face!!! This was NOT the mother I had known all my life. Thank God my dentist was an understanding woman. We quickly left, me being terribly embarrassed. Dementia makes people act and do things they normally would never do. We will need more understanding of this as our population ages here at Lakeside. The big question is how do we as friends and neighbors help when we see this and there are no family members around?

[Xena]

I have given my contact information to several close friends down here. They see me most often and would be able to call my children if they became concerned about me for any reason.

It is difficult to ask for such contact information once we notice signs in a neighbor or friend.