My dad has Alzheimer's. My mom makes it possible for him to stay home.

Freddy with his daughter (the author) at a local café.Courtesy of the authorMy father was once a poet, musician, and chess champion.Alzheimer's has changed his memory, but not all of his abilities.

Our family focuses on preserving his dignity and routine.My dad is one of the most intelligent people I've ever met.He was known as a gifted poet and speaker at Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz, Bolivia.

But during this time, Colonel Hugo Banzer established a military dictatorship, and amid political repression of students, he left for Madrid in 1971.Freddy and his wife, Adela, as newlyweds in Stockholm, Sweden, in the 1970s.Courtesy of the authorDestiny took him to Pontevedra, where he met my mom, a local dressmaker with a shop in town.

They married in 1975. As newlyweds, they spent time in Stockholm before settling in my mother's hometown, where my brother and I were born.I always thought of my dad as an undiscovered geniusHe was an unpublished writer with a gift for explaining complex ideas simply.

He taught himself classical guitar and piano, was excellent at maths, could draw well, spoke English, and became a local chess champion in the early 1980s.We were a bit of an eccentric family. Not rich, but culturally rich and surrounded by our beloved stray dogs.

My dad loved philosophy and literature and believed the mind should stay active. As a teen, when I wanted a computer, he gave me his copy of Goethe's "Faust" and, with his usual wit, told me, "Your brain is your best computer!"His brain is why I'm writing about him.

He's now one of millions living with Alzheimer's, a form of dementia, but to me, he's my one in a million — my brilliant dad.He was diagnosed at 71 with Alzheimer's and is now 77For a time, he became suspicious and accused my mother of stealing his things. She felt overwhelmed, and we tried a day care center, but it didn't work.

The place was good, but my dad is independent and stubborn, so he wanted to leave, questioning what he was doing among