Dementia can be a strange acting affliction.   My mother may remember or
usually not remember details of my visit but she remembers me being there.
Maybe not the day or time.  It's hard to describe.   She knows that one of
her sons never visits.  He says the same as you.
If your mom can still talk on the phone, you might at least call once a
week.  When Mom was living in another state a few years ago she always knew
that I called on Sundays.   I couldn't change the day because it would scare
her or she might not recognize my voice.  It's strange she would always
remember when it was Sunday.  In the end you're the one who has to decide
how important the visits are for you and for her......June

Be grateful she remembers who you are.  The Dowager no longer remembers
either me or my sister.  We still visit, of course, but as far as she's
concerned we're just a couple of nice, nameless people.

*That* is the hard one to learn to live with.

Blessed be,
Baird

It is funny how spotty their memories can be - it really is like
having someone open the back of the computer and throw a handful of
dust in - you will have malfunctions, but they can often seem very
random.

Early in her AD, my MIL broke a hip (it delayed formal diagnosis for a
while, since we had to deal with the hip first, and that took several
months). She had to go to a rehab hospital for a while, and the
combination of early AD and the anesthesia just whacked her. While
there, she frequently complained that no one came to see her although
we (husband, myself and her small grandson) were in walking distance
and were there daily. I'd come in and see flowers and cards and she
wouldn't know how they had got there, although they were delivered by
visitors (friends, relatives, neighbours).

As other posters have noted, just be glad she knows who you are. Later
in her AD, my MIL knew we were family, but she started getting hazy on
just who - she'd introduce her son as her husband. I turned into her
sister. And of course, sadly, there came the day when she really was
blank on who we were - fortunately, we had small kids at the time, so
she always lit up to see them, although I doubt she knew they were HER
grandkids.

One thing we noticed as her memory failed is that she didn't know the
difference between reality and dreams or imaginings. She'd relate
things that couldn't have happened - but to her seemed real. Or she'd
be very sure something had happened which we'd check on and turned out
to be not true. Its pointless to correct them or argue with them - but
be aware that your mom may do this.

The haziness on what has happened makes for some interesting problems
when you are dealing with hired assistance or a facility, since
sometimes what the person tells you will be true, or have an element
of truth that needs to be investigated. We had some issues with one
housekeeper she had, assigned to her by a government program, who
would show up, get my MIL to sign her card and then leave without
doing anything. Same housekeeper was trying to get money out of her
for some brother he who needed an operation, so the things MIL said
turned out to be true.

Then on the other hand, when she was in assisted living, she
complained they weren't feeding her, or coming to get her for meals
and that turned out to be untrue
She also complained about assaults from men, who turned out to be the
short haired ladies who helped her bathe and dress.  Aieeeee!!!

M.