Bonzo: Age is not a good measure of whether or not someone is elderly, or just high-mileage. I am old (86) but not elderly. My mother lived to be 99, but I never though of her as elderly. Her mind was sharp as a tack, and in her early nineties, she had a curious, adventurour Spirit. My mother was in her low 90's when my father died. The morning after the funeral service she asked me to take her out to buy a "record player." :-) My father didn't want music playing in the house, and she loved music. She'd heard of CDs but didn't know much about them. I took her out and bought her a stereo player and a couple of CDs she weanted. When I came down for breakfast the next morning she was listening to the radio, listening to rap. I asked her why she was listening to rap music. She said "Th last time I liwstened to radio, Glen Miller was still playing." We both laughed. Mom had a t endency to exagerate for a laugh. It clearly runs in the family.

Punkfolkrocker. My wife had dementia and spent the3 last three months of her life in a Dementia ward. I've sung in the nursing home for twenty years, so I am familiar with the range of awareness in a Dementia Waqrd. Normally, a new resident is noit put in a Dementia Ward unless they have Dementia. THere are plenty oif exceptions, and a wide range in level of comprehension. My wife was quiet, and sweet. She didn't talk much, but she could outsmile anyone. She did o.k. in the ward, because she could be who she was at that stager in her life. There were people in the ward who could deck you with a left if you got too close. It requires a lot of patience to deal with impatient people.