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So sorry you are experiencing abandonment. It's too difficult for some people to face these things. I think my mom's friends and some of our family members were afraid of the situation, not knowing how to react if she didn't remember them and was no longer the same person they had known. My husband, sons, and my niece were there for me and for her. Even my ex showed up. My brother couldn't handle it, so stayed away. People fear what they don't understand. My very close friends stayed in touch I think because I told them the stories about the strange things my mom did. It was a long ten years of those stories and they still remember the humor mixed with the sadness. They only knew her through the stories and the paintings I did of her, as they had not known her before the Alzheimer's. I do think there is beginning to be more awareness of the illness and hopefully family members will not in the future be so overwhelmed with the care involved. The heartbreak of your mom's decline is challenging enough to go through. Without your friends it makes it even harder. Keep trying to engage with them. Or find new friends who are going through similar things.
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Because they don't know what to say or do? Because you don't have the time to keep in touch, they forget to. I have very few friends that when I have not kept in touch, for various reasons, they call and ask what have I been doing. For me it always seemed one sided, me doing the keep in touching. I stopped and they never asked why. Its how the world is.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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SusanBigley Apr 16, 2026
That’s extremely sad. God be with you.
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