Our long GOODBYE

Hannah Riches, 49, is married to Neil, 58. She lives in Reading with daughters Milly, 14, and Bessie, 12.

Watching Neil attempt to draw the hands and numbers on a clock face, I finally accepted what I had feared for months. My wonderful, articulate, clever, gregarious and capable husband wasn’t simply becoming forgetful and scatty. He hadn’t grown bored or uninterested in our family life. He had dementia – aged just 51.

Although that formal diagnosis in 2014 was upsetting, it was also a relief. There was a reason behind what