About 12 years ago, Nancy Menchhofer’s husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the age of 59. When she moved him to a care facility five years ago, it was the hardest thing she had ever done. Menchhofer visits him once a week and feeds him lunch. He doesn’t know who she is or why she’s there.

It’s been a long road, she said. A road filled with frustration, sadness and worry.

“So often people would say, ‘How’s Bob?’” said Menchhofer, 70, of Chesterfield. “But they would never say, ‘How are you?’”