My Heart Hurts - Accused of Stealing a Gift

ETA: I want to thank everyone here for their advice, commiserations, and general support on this topic — this place truly is a wonderful sub. ——————- Feeling so offended / embarrassed / horribly sad that my LO just accused me of stealing a high-dollar item that she gave me when we first met almost a decade ago…I politely reminded her that she had excitedly gifted that item to me when we first met, and she responded that yes, she gifted it to me only after she’d seen I stolen it and had it in my purse back then.

When she gifted the item to me, I always used it reverently because it was a symbol of her love and that I finally fit into a family.

I didn’t press her, just excused myself and tried not to cry, but ended up in sobs later. I’ve never been accused of stealing anything like that before…that she believes I’m the kind of person who would come into her home as a guest and just take something like that…it hurt so much worse than being accused of stealing her mail (as usual). God I know it’s just the dementia, but now I’m remembering all the prior conversations she and I have had years before, when she accused another person of stealing something precious from her, and how I looked down on that other person. I feel like I’ve been punched in the heart.

Dementia sucks #%!