A quick post

Am out all day today so wanted to write this before I set off.  Last night we went out for a meal with friends.  They are very good friends, we've known them forever and were out with them three weeks ago.  The thing is that they don't read the blog and I hadn't thought before the last meeting to tell them about the 'don't ask questions' strategy.  They are lovely and very polite so the first thing they did was ask Ash how he was and what he'd been doing.  This threw him completely and all he could think to say was that he hadn't been doing anything which is a bit of a stumbling block at the beginning of any conversation.  We had a great evening and Ash chatted but it was almost as though he was on the periphery of the group.  A few days later I called to see them, took the 'Contented Dementia' booklet and told them about not questioning.  Last night it was obvious they'd taken it all on board and the difference in Ash was staggering.  He not only joined in conversations but instigated them. He laughed and joked, said hello to other people we knew, remembered where he knew them from and, apart from the story of his mobile phone which he repeated almost word for word (but only once), he was very much his old self, a self however that I haven't seen for a very long time.  It really is amazing that something so simple can make such a huge difference.  If you haven't yet tried it I really do recommend it.