A cool dog is always good, at least.

Not all dementia is genetic. I don't really get any information about type she has. My dad is the stoic type typical of his generation and doesn't share much about her progression or respond if I ask how he is doing. Her parents died relatively young, before the age where dementia is common, so I don't know if they might have developed it later. I guess it remains to see if her younger siblings start to show signs.

My sister is showing a lot of my mother's less desirable personality traits of late. It's like she's morphing into mom. It's kind of scary. I read that there a may be a connection between personality disorders and higher risk of dementia. It's being researched further. Maybe my sister has the dementia genes, if anyone. She has been acting pretty disordered lately.

My dad's family seems to live longer with fewer issues. My father is doing well for his age. My grandmother lived independently and died at 95. Over her last year and a half, she started to show more serious memory issues and strange behaviors. Before that she had been doing pretty well. I take after my dad's side a lot and her, in particular. Maybe that will help me avoid the dementia, but at the same time, I don't think I want to live THAT long.