Thanks for all the suggestions! I really like the one from Karen about buying flowers or something and having the caretaker remind him who they are from when he asks.

And I also think the hugs are important too. Terry and I have talked about this a little and I told him that what I believe is that even if it doesn't register at the time he's there, his dad will know that he was there, and it will make a difference. I believe that to be true for all diseases like this, or if someone is in a coma, etc. Inside, deep down, they know.

I explained it to him that it's like his dad has a short circuit in his brain. The knowledge is all there, it's just not connecting. Every once-in-a-while it'll be as if he goes over a bump and the circuit connects for a minute, but then the circuit will be broke again. So when the circuit is complete his dad will know that he was there, and when the circuit isn't complete, the knowledge that he was there will still be there waiting for the circuit to come together again.

And thanks to the "guys" in the group for giving me a male perspective on this. Terry doesn't talk about stuff like this much to begin with, so I figured this would be a tough one.

Also, about it happening to him when he gets older. I don't have any personal experience with Alzheimer's, but I've done some research on it and from what I can tell, the "early onset" form is sometime hereditary, but seeing as how his dad was about 80 before he started getting it....I don't know, but I don't call that "early onset." I've read books where the mother was in her 50's when she first started getting it and had died by about 62 or so. That's what I would call early onset. But of course there are no guarantees and Terry has already told me to just shoot him if he gets it. (sorry, I know it's nothing to joke about, but you gotta keep your sense of humor, right?)

So again, thanks for all the advice already. If there's anymore out there, it's all appreciated.

Thanks for all the thoughts, prayers and hugs too. Somehow I think we're going to need them.