Who you are

In my father's case, dementia was an exacerbation of his personality. He couldn't remember things he never did remember, was obsessive but always had been, asked the same questions many times but was always soothed by repetition. I read a NYT article about analysis done on Reagan's speeches to determine when his dementia began. I wonder if behind a fragile layer of social grace we are born demented. I wonder if it's part of our composition instead of something that arrives. Maybe it's incurable because you can't cure who you are.