My Grandad had Dementia Conor

The Procession of the League (detail). François Bunel the Younger, 1590 © National Gallery of Ireland

My grandad had dementia. After his wife died, he would wake in the middle of the night and walk down to the graveyard. He’d have a pray at her graveside, then forget where he was and why he was there. Ultimately, someone from the town would ring my uncle to let him know where my grandad was, and he’d head down to collect my grandad from the graveyard.