Paul Toohey wrote How to die slowly – and just keep going for The Punch, an online conversation. It’s a lousy title, but a great article;

“Some performers get on stage and die. Glen Campbell is in the process of dying, beautifully, on stage.

A half-full crowd at New York’s Carnegie Hall saw something special on Saturday night. Campbell, who has Alzheimer’s, and suffers noticeably from it, gave a performance that was sometimes muddled but was also a resoundingly affirmative declaration about the reasons to keep on going with a debilitating impairment.

It helped that no one came to see Campbell, 75, fail… ”

How wonderful no one turned up to see him fail, but instead to see him succeed; they attended to watch a man doing his best, showing all of his assets, supported by his loving family who worked hard to hide any of the deficits caused by the Alzheimer’s dementia he is living with.

I believe we [people with dementia] need more people focussing on our assets, rather than only wanting or needing to see our deficits just to believe we have dementia. This would help reduce or remove the stigma and discrimination caused currently by a diagnosis of dementia, and would also reduce the fear many have about interacting with us.

Glen Campbell is doing an amazing job living with dementia, and his family are to be applauded in their will and desire to help him continue to live an extraordinary life, sharing his many talents with his adoring fans, of which I am one.

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