Thank you for the message. I lost my mother to Alzheimer's, another dreaded disease. She lingered many years in a diseased mind that didn't know me to be her daughter. In our family, no one said, "I love you" but I told her often when she fell ill. She never knew me as her daughter then and I always hoped somehow it slid in there in the recesses of her mind.
You have wonderful memories of your mom. Cherish them.