Today was a wonderful day for Jim. One of his childhood friends organized a video call with those who were still alive and kicking.

At this stage of dementia, Jim is better with old memories than current ones so it was a chance for him to reminisce with people who were there at the time, and who could remind him of other events during that same time period.

From my perch on the chair next to him, it was easy to tell that Jim felt normal and more himself than he has during the past several months. The organizer of the online event knows about Jim’s battle with dementia, so he and the rest of the guys didn’t point out when Jim repeated himself or asked about people they’d just  finished talking about. They just let him speak and kept him involved in the conversation.

They are truly a great group of guys.

I’m sorry none of us thought to do this sooner. It was a real boost for Jim and I think he was able to follow the video call better than one-on-one phone calls. He didn’t seem to lose his place in the conversation as much.

Score one for technology!!