FTD – Happy Anniversary, you bastard

Today is the 38th anniversary of our wedding. In 1976, we were bright-eyed and eager to see what life had in store for us. I am so glad we didn’t know that FTD was going to invade our lives and destroy what we had built for thirty-six years.

I cried today. That’s not really unusual. I was sad and my dog brought me his bone. That made me cry. I guess it wasn’t far away, under the surface and that simple act of innocent kindness brought it out. It was then that I realized that our anniversary is still significant to me, even though my husband died two years ago. I realized that nothing –time, distance or circumstances will ever change that. People ask me if I’m dating – “You’re still young!” and look at me strangely when I say that it never crosses my mind and I don’t see a time when it ever will. Spending almost forty years with someone that you love so unconditionally and they you, makes that unthinkable.  The things one has to do and endure when caring for someone with FTD  have somehow made me more detached from reality. I can engage in the stuff of life – fun, laughter,smiles, sadness and joy. But I am so changed by my experience that I am almost a different person entirely than that hopeful, full-of-dreams girl that I was in 1976. People have been on the receiving end of this new person and are sometimes shocked I think, by how different she is from the old me.

FTD destroys lives and dreams. But it never destroyed my love. Somehow, I was able to separate the love from the horror. At times, it was as if everything that was happening was not happening to us. I have written about love and FTD many times. It was a driving factor in my FTD experience.  I cannot imagine how I would have coped without it. My own love for my husband, the love I knew that he still felt for me, even though it was masked by the bastard disease, and the love I had for our family as I witnessed their pain. The journey was like walking a path to a destination you never want to reach. As painful as it is, you know that reaching the end will be even more so. And there is nothing you can do to stop the relentless onward march towards your destiny.

In 1976, I imagined my destiny to be somewhat different. White dress, first waltz, flowers and cake. Handsome husband, first home, fun, fun, fun. He only forgot once, after about 3 years. He remembered after he had dropped me off at work. I got the best bouquet and champagne dinner that day 🙂

A year before he died, FTD made him forget too. The bastard disease created another hole in his brain and our anniversary slipped through. That last anniversary we were together, our son came round with a card for us and my husband was devastated that he had forgotten. So my son gave him the card to give to me. That made him feel better that he thought I thought he’d remembered.  Even in the depths of his confusion, he felt the love. One month later, he moved into his first residential home and ten months after that, he died.

Of course, the thirty-eight years were not all fun, fun fun, even before the FTD. We had challenges, just like everyone does. At first, when FTD came along, we carried on as ‘normal’. As you know, the onslaught is so insidious, it is shocking at times to realize that things have changed. Then suddenly –Bam! Your groom/bride can’t speak properly anymore. Or they’re hiding things, or spending all your money. You are inexplicably broke and getting thrown out of your house. Or you are bailing your loved one of out of jail. Thankfully, those last two things did not happen to me, but they do to someone who cares for a person with FTD. The bastard disease has a blatant disregard for propriety, respect for others or socially acceptable behavior.

When you make those promises -“In sickness and in health”, when you’re twenty years old, you don’t really understand exactly what it is you’re signing up for. So when the ‘sickness’ is FTD, those promises are really put to the test. But for me, it was not something I had to think about. Maybe I have innate qualities that I didn’t know about, I’m not sure. But I really don’t think I did anything heroic, or anything that all of you are not doing for your loved one.

So what is the point of my blog today? Other than catharsis, I wanted to share how FTD has uncovered things about me that I didn’t know before. In 1976, I wasn’t a nurse, wasn’t a mother, wasn’t a wife until October 30th. I was twenty years old. No-one even knew what FTD was then. I’m glad I didn’t. I guess the point of my writing today is to try to impress upon you how important being in the moment is. Usually I try to offer some kind of encouragement and advice about how to handle your own and your family’s emotions amid the turmoil of FTD. I don’t think I can do that today. Because some experiences and emotions are so personal and unique, that to tell you how to handle them would almost be an insult. You are you, I am me. I just told you that I am not the me I was. I am irrevocably changed by experience. You will be too. The transformation has already started. Your metamorphosis into the post-FTD man or woman is already under way. You can’t stop it,  just like you can’t stop the FTD. All you can do is go with it. Watch in wonder as it appears. I wish I could liken it to a beautiful butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. But I can’t. I can’t promise you will be a more beautiful you –outside or inside. But you will be different, that I do know. Your life will emerge as something completely new. Post-FTD, without the stresses and strains of the practicalities of caring for someone with a debilitating, terminal condition, you will probably be baffled as to who and what you are.

I wish I had an answer. I may never know the answer. I don’t even know if there is an answer.  I am full of admiration for those of you who are still doing what I did every day. My heart breaks for you because I know what is to come. Now I know. I didn’t know in 1976, thank goodness. I was able to have a full and happy life and marriage. We had many champagne moments. I am so grateful for that. My life is still full. It’s full of sons and grandchildren and other family members. I have grown closer to all of them as a result of what we went through. Going back to an earlier comment ” Are you dating yet?”, all I can say is –why would I want to expose anyone else to what our family has been through? How could they possibly understand our pain. They weren’t there, they don’t know. It would not be fair to anyone, an outsider if you will,  to expect them to understand.

I make no apology for the somber tone in my post today. It’s a sad day for me. Tomorrow is a new day and I will bounce right back and be the new me again.  These days are a reminder of what once was. Of what I had, what we had and did. So it’s all good. I have wonderful memories. Even some of my FTD memories are good or at least funny. But there are many more non-FTD memories. From 1976 until 2012, it was a terrific ride. From 2012 until today, I have been able to reflect and rebuild.  FTD could not take that away from me. I may have been down, but never out. My husband loved the feisty me. She’s still around as everyone around me will attest. Bastard FTD. Ha! Couldn’t take that away.

My husband loved champagne. We drank it at every opportunity. I will be having some later.

Happy anniversary to us.