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When I met my husband, he introduced me to his mother. A 61 years old woman with a soft voice, a warm smile and a kind heart. He later shared with me the fact that he lived with her as he was more than her son, he was also her primary caregive as she has been living with Alzheimers for the last ten years.

I was shocked that she has bee doing so well despite the gradually creeping effects of Alzheimer's disease on her life. Nevertheless, nothing could have prepared me for the changes and adaptations that Alzheimer's forced upon us, as I was moving in with them four months later. What followed through me for a loop as I was from then living with Alzheimers.

I never had the pleasure or the opportunity to meet the woman who became my mother-in-law eight months later. I heard about her natural generosity, her legendary kindness and her caring and unselfish attitude. I had wish many times to have had the chance to get to know the "real" woman living with us.

Like everyone else, I knew little about Alzheimer's disease and was totally unprepared by the full implications that applied to our life by offering her the opportunity to live in the house she always knew as her own, until death would claim her, no less.

My husband told me that she was diagnosed ten years earlier, at the young age of 51 years old during an hospital stay due to depression. He then explained to me how the disease started to gradually affect her and her life. She started to forget little things at first, nonetheless her memory lapses would become a source of frustration. Then, she would forget more important things such as leaving a stove element on, which not only angered and frustrated her but also made her feel guilty about what she thought was carelessness.

Soon after her husband passed away, Alzheimer's disease started to affect her life gradually, more often and gained in importance as it was taking a toll on her and her life. It started to challenge her independence. She was making more mistakes at work, even losing or misplacing important documents, money and objects. She was forced into an early retirement. The bank finally shared their concerns with my husband when they told him about the financial mess she was getting herself into. They even suggested that he would take the necessary steps to sign documents giving him the power of attorney, making him officially in charge of both her care and her estate. Of course, he also realized that she needed him more than ever and decided to move in

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