Audition today required my being the wife of a husband who is in the grips of Alzheimer’s disease. The discussion with the playwright progressed as to what this felt like for the wife – as this play was based on a real person. And he said “You lose your best friend. You have no access to the person anymore with whom you share so many memories. The sharing possibilities are taken away. You are dealing with someone you don’t know.” I looked at him startled. And was quiet. I then said, you have described what a divorce is. In a divorce you lose your best friend, you no longer have that memory bank of shared memories upon which to call, and the new person that is most likely in combat with you, you don’t know at all. We sat there together in a silent mutual awareness.