My Mom is 82 and has dementia. She asks about people she remembers that have passed. They have all been friends that she knew. But recently she caught me off guard when she asked about her Mom. I did tell her that she passed and she seemed sad for a few minutes. If she asks again, what do I say? She had never asked that before or asked about anyone in the family that had passed.
This is a good time to use what are called "therapeutic fibs". My Mom [98] wanted to go visit her parents so I said "your parents are visiting the old country" which was something my grandparents use to do. Mom would smile and say "that's good".
Any time Mom asked to visit her siblings, I had to be quicker on my feet with the therapeutic fibs and try to come up with something that my Mom would accept.