One day in 2022, Dad said he was quitting his men’s pinochle card group after 20 years. He had won the championship 3 out of the last 5 years. He said some of the guys weren’t being nice to him.
This was confusing to us given how much he loved this group and how well Dad always got along with people in social situations. He said his partner challenged his play and “that’s not right”. With gentle probing, we found out his partner simply asked “why did you play that?” after one of the tricks. I can only assume his partner thought Dad played a card that didn’t make sense since my dad was a sharp card player all his life. His partner was probably genuinely surprised, not mad.
Dementia patients have difficulty following instructions and it seems card games are an unfortunate victim of this issue.
Dementia symptoms are easier to see in the rear view mirror. I didn’t know.
(Photo of me and Dad playing an easier card game of crazy eights today.)
Kelley Irwin 
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