Angèle Midenet, 61, retired, lives a few meters from her mother, Virginia, 91, in Stiring-Wendel (Moselle). Young people suffer from disorders associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Here, November 5, 2025.
NICOLAS LEBLANC FOR “THE WORLD”
Virginia’s short-term memory fades, but the old woman retains her distant memories. At his home, in Stiring-Wendel (Moselle), 5 November 2025. NICOLAS LEBLANC FOR “THE WORLD”
“I remember this phone call from my father very well. The doctors had just diagnosed him with Parkinson’s disease and my first thought was quite ironic: “Thank God it’s not Alzheimer’s, he’ll keep his head!” » It is currently February 2018. When Mélanie Dufey hung up the phone, this naturopath, then 34, didn’t realize that Parkinson’s disease was neurodegenerative, and therefore progressive. Known for the vibrations it causes, it is not always associated by patients and those around them with cognitive decline. Neither her research on the Internet nor health professionals would have prepared Mélanie for what happened next.
This disease attacks silently. For several years, Mélanie’s father Robert, a former IT director, continued his retirement between Paris, Picardy and Haute-Marne. But the first manifestations of dementia appear, and the disease progresses. Robert confuses his partner with the cleaning lady, calling his daughter all the time, haunted by memories of the Algerian war. A torrent of anxiety and dark thoughts gradually wiped out the joy of life from this eternal optimist, lover of art and cinema.
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