DEAR ABBY: The responses from your readers discussing whether to tell Alzheimer's patients about the death of a loved one reminded me about what happened with my mother.
Mom, who is in the middle stages of Alzheimer's, once told me, in great confidence, that she thought my father (who had died 10 years before) was having an affair because his shoes were not in the closet. Also, some "other woman's clothes" were in there. (We had added a few new items to Mom's wardrobe, and she didn't recognize them.)
I very hesitantly began to remind my mother how sick Dad had been, how many times we'd had to take him to the hospital, and finally worked around to saying that he had died 10 years ago. My mother's response: "Well, THAT'S a relief!" -- RICHARD IN SAN DIEGO
DEAR RICHARD: I can see her logic. She's not the only woman who would rather her husband were dead than cheating.