The Golden Girls was a television show that depicted four retired women
             living together in one house at first to save money, but later because they
             have become good friends and a surrogate family for each other.
             The central theme of this episode is the problems older people can
             face as they consider the possibility of a romance in their later years. In
             the story, Sophia Patrillo, Dorothy's mother and the oldest of the four
             women, meets an elderly man at the beach. She and he seem to have a lot in
             common, but as their friendship progresses he seems to be acting somewhat
             erratically. In one scene, he is outraged because the bus driver has
             arbitrarily changed the route he drove, causing the man great confusion.
             One day Rose waits for the man, but his daughter arrives instead and tells
             him that her new friend has Alzheimer's.
             Rather than presenting the characters in negative stereotypes related
             to old age, each character has specific traits. Rose is gullible but
             clearly has been gullible all her life. Dorothy is gruff and sarcastic on
             the surface but a very caring person. Blanche is man-crazy but also always
             has been. Sophia has had a stroke that prevents her from curbing her
             tongue. She has spent some time in a nursing home and apparently both she
             and her daughter Dorothy feel she should not be living on her own, but she
             still lives an independent life, which is demonstrated in this episode as
             is out enjoying the beach by herself when she meets the man who becomes her
             This episode reflected real life in that a significant number of older
             people will develop Alzheimer's, and this condition will affect all aspects
             I thought this show was presented sensitively and with compassion. The
             more obvious problem of the man's Alzheimer's was presented gently and
             kindly. He was not ridiculed in any way. Sophia's reaction was interesting
             also because it reflected the subtle
             ...