Sides

Brian has always been wonderful to me. I didn’t know he had a temper when we were first married. He never showed it to me. He gets his temper from the Murphy side of the family. Must be the Irish in him. I first found out about his temper when he came home from work one day and ranted and raved about his day. He told me he wasn’t mad at me but at his job. This happened a few times and I finally told him that if he was mad at his job, get mad there, not at home. Again, he assured me he wasn’t mad at me. He rarely brought his temper home from work after that. Brian has rarely gotten mad at me during our marriage. Not that I didn’t deserve it but because when it comes to me, he is the sweetest person on earth. Alzheimer’s has a tendency to change people’s personalities early in the disease process. This hasn’t happened with Brian. If anything, he is even more sweeter! I have been having muscle problems and several times a day he comes over and gives me a neck and shoulder massage. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t tell me how great I am. Someone will come onto the TV and I will mention that she is pretty and Brian will agree, then say, “But not as pretty as you!” And then we laugh, and he says, “I still have it!”, meaning his ability to sweet talk me. Brian has lost his temper. I haven’t seen it for years now. Without the stress of working his temper has disappeared. Brian is usually in a good mood and even hums a lot. We laughingly recall an old friend, Drydee, who hummed all the time. Brian is the new Drydee. This is a side of Alzheimer’s that we do not mind.