I watched my mother take care of my father even when it was so difficult for her. She had stopped driving a few years before he got sick but once he had to be in a nursing home 25 miles away, she got in that car and went every day. She was 82 at the time and we believe the Alzheimers was beginning at that time. After he passed in 2006 she was like a person who had lost their job. So sad to see her decline and now lives in assisted living because she has no short term memory at all. She still knows us and can find my phone number when she's upset about something. All she wants to do is go to heaven and see dad. They were married 62 yrs when he passed.