MY DOCTOR TOLD ME about a thing that dementia patients do called “showtiming.” In denial, embarrassment, or terror, we perform ourselves in front of other people as if we have no symptoms at all. I’m a master at it. In meetings, interviews, even live behind a podium in front of several hundred people, I can showtime myself into competence for an hour or longer. Sometimes I even fool myself into thinking that I’m as powerful as
