Though, in 2005, as I have said, there was nothing to indicate problems afoot, when I look back, I can see that there were signs.  There were signs, but they didn’t seem all that important to me.  They were all to do with speech.  Physically and mentally, Bill seemed fine in every way, but he was having significant problems with language.  Often, he could not recall nouns when he needed to.  Thingy, thing-a-ma-jig, you know, this one here, became common substitutes for nouns and, if he wanted to tell you about a route that he had taken in the car, he would say:

“You go up there and around and then down …… and you keep on going over….. and then you turn and go up again.”

The listener would be craving a noun, ready to pounce on one ….. on anything ….. that would place him at the scene,  but it never came.  In his head, Bill would have been driving around round–a-bouts, and up and down hills, and turning left and right into certain streets but, in 2005-6, he could never find the language to explain the route in words.

Although I was concerned about Bill’s problem with language, I didn’t know what to do about it.  I found it easier to put it all down to “old age”.

“Everybody over sixty finds it difficult to recall nouns at one time or another,”  I told myself.  “Bill’s just a bit worse than the rest of us.”

For the most part, thankfully, kind and patient family and friends could work out what Bill was talking about and, if they couldn’t, they learned to nod and say  “Yes” at appropriate points in the conversation.  That got them through and satisfied Bill.

So, as 2005 turned into 2006, Bill and I went on with our lives.  There was much to live for …. a grandchild to fuss over, a trip to Tasmania to be planned and various things to be done around the house.  Bill always had a house project on the go and landscaping our gardens would be his next venture.