The sweet predictability of dementia

One of the things I have learned about dementia, is there is a predictability. Yes, that is a nice of way saying "He does the same things over and over again", but it is more than that. Not only does my Dad ask the same questions over and over again, there is a pattern to when they are triggered.

For instance, if I meet my husband at his work to pick up Dad we drive by the animal shelter. We now go through a routine conversation:
"Look Dad there is the pound. Want to go look at the animals"
"No way" he says emphatically "You'll just bring home another cat"
" I know Dad but the 3 of them are getting along so well we need to mix things up"
He laughs and says "You have 3 cats. No wonder they are everywhere"

We do this every time we go to my husband's work place. This is another opportunity for me to learn how to communicate with my Dad. I could avoid our conversation (because I know how it will come out). But instead, I relish it. I know we will have this wonderful give and take. I will talk, Dad will respond, he can actually follow this conversation! This is huge as his short term memory is so shot it is hard for him to follow his OWN sentences, let alone the give and take of conversation.

My Dad's disease has taught me so much about my Dad, my life and what is important. Again, the conversation itself is not what is important, but the time we had together laughing about my cat collection. Just look at the joy and the wonderful moments I would have missed, had I said, "oh no, don't go by the pound because we will have to talk about cats, AGAIN". Now, I try and find a way to actually drive by the pound.