Precursor symptoms may occur as early as the mid 40’s and often get confused and passed off as “those subtle declines” that begin occuring in ones life anyway.
It doesn’t surprise me that he developed alzheimers...which when I read your posting I was prompted to ask about his developing dementia. Hopefully you do see that some of your marriage issues may have had something to do with the mental storm he had been dealing with for decades while not exactly being entirely conscious of what was happening to him.
I also feel for you as it must have been frustrating for you in dealing with those sudden illogical twists and increasing quirkiness of his personality and lapses of judgment and memory with any angry emotionality that went with all that.
Thank you for your perceptive response. We were married when he was 32. My mother was a third grade school teacher, and several times she asked me if he had petit mal epilepsy. I did not pay that too much mind as my mother could make anyone zone out. Still, in retrospect there were some subtle signs which I can’t quite describe. However, the first time it was really obvious was when he was 63 or 64. He had worked all day, driven 150 miles to meet me at a trade show where I was selling. We were in a restaurant awaiting our dinner order. He asked, “Is my mother still alive?” My response, “No, she died 6 years ago.” My heart sank, and two years later it was clear that something was beginning to change even when he was not tired.