well hell

Just heard that a second-cousin of mine, about my age or a little younger, has been diagnosed with dementia. At least he's not a first cousin, though it's possible he's a double-second - the family tree is a banyan on that side. And I wonder how long he's been experiencing effects of this. I think about 3 or 4 years ago he was sending me messages asking whether I thought it was true there was an alien space ship on the other side of the moon. At the time I was having a rough patch (I think I'd just heard that my brother's cancer had advanced more) and I got impatient with his blathering and stopped responding. But just a couple of months ago I sent him a thumb drive with some pictures he'd asked for back when we were communicating and now I realize I probably should print some out and make a book, as they say having photo albums helps people keep in touch with the idea of their relatives.