Me and My Father
On September 4, 2006, my mum died suddenly. After she died, I realized how much she'd been shielding me from my father's mental state. He doesn't have Alzheimer's, but he has no short-term memory and is often lost. I took him to the funeral, but when we got home, he kept asking me where my mother was. I had to explain over and over again that she had died. This was shocking news to him.

Why had no one told him?
Why hadn't I taken him to the funeral?
Why hadn't he visited her in the hospital?

He had no memory of these events. After a while, I realized I couldn't keep telling him that his wife had died. Constantly re-living her death was destroying us both. So I decided to say that she'd gone to Paris, to care for her sick brother. And that's where she is now.

• More of Toledano's Days with My Father
• Alzheimer's Unlocked