I met Benita in the fall of 2014 through my friends. I was then a weekly music and art instructor at Folkhälsan Nursing Home, collecting material for my novel. I couldn't speak Swedish, but like other local people, she didn't speak Finnish or English with me. I learned Swedish.

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Benita has been patient, attentive and kind to me. She asked me to come her home and offered to stay there when I needed it.

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Benita is a musician and plays a great variety of Violins, Organ and Piano. She also sings well. Once, Benita took me with her to choir rehearsals. People welcomed me very warmly into the choir. However, at that time I still lived on the mainland. I got the notes with me as memory of that nice moment.

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One time when I went to see Benita, she told me she was diagnosed with memory disease. I had already noticed signs of it. Then Benita dropped the bomb: she said she was also going blind. This touched me deeply,  At this point, Benita fully understood what she was up to.

Benita knows my job and knows that I understand what she means. I looked at that sympathetic and one of the most wonderful people in the world and couldn't find the words to my emotions that were moving in a world of friendship, love and compassion.

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That moment I decided that I have to support her to the end. Today, her memory has deteriorated so that appointments cannot be arranged in advance. As a result, they are rare.

I know Benita's neighbors and they came with her to our party in the summer. We played and sang together: I played the guitar, she played the violin and other guests sang. Benita can play anything she hears without notes.

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Fortunately, we have “Demens föreningen på Åland . I get help through this association if I come across a situation where I don't know how to act. However, I see an opportunity here. Life is like the sea: all days are different. We only have this moment.