My wife has just failed the Flood Test.  I arrived in the kitchen to find her trying to stem the tide.  The kitchen floor was awash with soapy water.  It flowed on as the cold tap was fully open.  My wife had no idea what was going on.

Once I took remedial action she had no idea how to help with the clear up.  She struggled to follow my instructions and help with baling out.  She wandered from kitchen to garden in a fruitless effort to assist in the drying up operation.

If a professional member of staff had visited our house to assess her capacity this afternoon she would have hoodwinked them with her intellect and ability to talk a good game.  My wife remains and articulate woman:  when she is lucid her intellect is intact.  It is when she has to function that her decline is apparent.  To fool family she reverts to the ‘hostess mode’ and pulls out all the stops to convince them there is nothing wrong.  After family visits she often sleeps for a couple of days to allow her brain to recover from her herculean efforts.

Only those who are here 24/7 get a true picture of her decline.  This afternoon has even been a wake up call for me.  If I am to keep her safe I need to review popping out to the shops occasionally.  If I continue to leave her alone our water bills could become rather expensive.  Water water everywhere: I might not get off so lightly next time.  There might be a lot more to worry about than baling out for half an hour or so the next time.