# @theaebony on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DMIlLsisH16
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/63381667-theaebony-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/bd51951534.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-07-15T15:58:32.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Thea | Rebuilds + Real Life (@theaebony) — https://gondola.cc/theaebony

## Caption

13 years ago. Remembering the first moments like they were yesterday. I was working at Commonwealth Bank when I started noticing things… little things. Forgetting routes she used to know by heart. Repeating stories. Getting unusually nervous.⁣
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This means she was just 52 when we started seeing the signs of early-onset dementia. But that doesn’t mean it started then. Dementia often creeps in slowly, quietly, and by the time it’s visible, it’s already rooted.⁣
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When Mommy became afraid to drive in Nassau, I knew something was wrong. She drove people around the U.S. confidently. That fear? That hesitation? That wasn’t her.⁣ Thirteen years. That’s how long it’s been since I first noticed.
Thirteen years of watching my mom slowly disappear, not all at once, but in pieces.⁣
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And grief? It doesn’t wait until the end. It lives in the in-between. It visits you in grocery aisles, in forgotten birthdays, no more talks, in blank stares that once held your name.⁣
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People think dementia is just memory loss. But it’s not. It’s the slow erosion of identity. Of voice. Of certainty.⁣
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Early-onset dementia can start long before age 65, and it’s more common than people think. It doesn’t always look like what we expect. Sometimes, it starts with a fear. A pause. A personality shift.⁣ Or getting ill at work.
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Today, I’m her caregiver. Her daughter. Her reminder.⁣ Mother to her.
Early awareness can change the journey.⁣ 

#adulting #dementiaawareness #dementiacaregiver #oldestdaughter

## Stats

- **Views:** 3,496
- **Likes:** 277
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- **Comments:** 25

## Tags

dementiaawareness, dementiacaregiver, adulting, oldestdaughter

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