My mum used to say, “Every cloud has a silver lining – you just need to look for it,”’ says Heather O’Neil, remembering her mother Margaret, who passed away in December 2021, aged 91, after living with mixed dementia for seven years. Margaret’s words proved true, as despite the diagnosis, Heather and Margaret were able to find positivity and light during those final years.
Heather and her mother were very close, and it was Heather who first noticed that something had changed. ‘I used to go round every week to visit mum and Eric, my stepdad. Mum was a wonderful cook and would always produce beautiful roast dinners. Then one day in early 2012, they stopped,’ Heather, 63 this month, from North Yorkshire, remembers. ‘At first, I assumed Mum was…
