Walking with Fay: My Mother's Uncharted Path into Dementia

In 2012, Carolyn Birrell flew down to Georgia to kidnap her mother.

Fay had been living by herself since her husband's death in 2000 and clung fiercely to her independence. She went to church on Sundays, paid her bills on time, and volunteered at Vacation Bible School every summer. But at 79 years old, she'd begun showing escalating signs of early-stage dementia, each one making it harder for her daughter to discount as simple signs of aging.

After receiving calls from Fay's local sheriff and...