[Rosemary Appleby] Hunting, outdoors and grandkids.

That's what he's all about, was all about.

I'm Rosemary Appleby and I'm 76 years old.

This is my husband John over here.

And he is 81.

We've been married 57 years.

My mom gave us six months, but three grown daughters, seven grandkids.

Kids are great helpers.

They come visit all the time.

I think they're all afraid of that time when they come and he's not going to know who they are.

I don't know when I became a caregiver.

I just kind of wafted my way into it.

He's diabetic.

He had open heart surgery in 1993.

He has congestive heart failure.

And I retired in December of 2015.

Little did I know that he was already showing signs of Alzheimer's.

One of my first gut punches, we went fishing and he hadn't hooked the battery cables back on the boat motor and he couldn't figure out where they went.

And this is a guy who has spent hours and days in the back yard with his brothers tearing cars apart and putting them back together.

And that was just horrible for me.

I'm very blessed.

He doesn't want to drive because so many spouses struggle with having to take the keys away.

It's one of the most horrific parts of being a caregiver is taking away from them what makes them.

You've got to do the best you can with what you've got.

And I pray a lot.

And I depend on others.

I'm getting better at it.

I was not very good at it at first.

I do remember the psychologist that gave us the diagnosis and she gave me a packet of information from the Caregivers and said, you really need to talk to these people.

They'll give you insight, they'll give you support.

I could not have done this without them.

♪♪ [Woman from Caregivers Center] So, this is the Caregiver Bill of Rights.

I have the right to take care of myself.

Caregiving is not an act of selfishness.

It will give me the capability of taking better care of my loved one.

To seek help from others, even though my loved one may object.

[Carole Butz] The dementia journey is a difficult one, particularly for caregivers.

My own husband had dementia and my experience out of that is that it takes a village.

Support is just critical.

♪♪ [Rosemary Appleby] Caregivers all have different things that they are good at, they can handle, they can't handle.

I don't have a bathroom problem.

I don't like mud.

I don't like gnats.

But I can help clean up.

And I always tell them, hey, don't pin a halo on my head because it's just the way it is for me.

[Carole Butz] Don't try to do it alone.

Find resources.

If you need a counselor, find a counselor.

If you need medication, find medication.

Find someone that you can talk to, that you can share the journey with.

[Rosemary Appleby] We just went to a wedding.

One of our granddaughters got married.

I really worried since we were in the hospital in '23, everything has been like oh my God, I hope he's still here.

But we went and he danced with the bride because three people were holding him up.

He had a ball and didn't even know it.

And that's so sad.

But everybody else knew it.

And there were a lot of tears, but they were kind of happy sad tears.

[Nebbe] Since recording the Appleby's story, John Appleby passed away.

Our hearts go out to his close family and friends.

♪♪