Bob Manning, my husband of nearly 40 years, died on January 16, 2020, in the midst of Covid. He was suffering from dementia, which I blame on years of working with lead paint in his art studio. When it became impossible for Bob to live safely at home, we moved him to Canterbury Inn, a kind and caring residential care facility in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Our journey was filled with silliness, laughter, tears, sadness, fear, an opening of hearts, the challenges of patience and a rollercoaster of emotions. This sequence of journal entries cover a five-year period of our combined experience. As Bob’s words disappeared and new ones appeared, we decided to call our new language Dementish . Our communication surprisingly deepened, even as our normal tools struggled to keep up. This became a life-affirming journey of self-discovery for both of us, with gifts along the way. May you discover them here.