Faking she doesn't necessarily interrupt, it's more like a) she is a little hard of hearing so can't hear you making the noises one makes when trying to enter a conversation, b) has no visual or emotional awareness of others attempting to speak and c) relates to everything via anecdote, eg 'Oh, that thing that you just told me, I did/had/saw/etc that same thing myself' at which stage you know you're on the precipice of an anecdote, which may then run into another and another, and then it's 90mins later.
ChooChooLaverne possibly some mild congnitive issues, it certainly feels like that anyway. It's as though she can only see one way to communicate and it involves telling a long story about yourself. I did make a tongue-in-cheek rule about never telling me a story about anyone I don't know and/or will never meet but now she seems to ignore it. I said it last night and she said 'That's your rule, not mine.'
MerryMarigold I am doing this with some regularity but it's just as stressful to me to have loads of background chatter whether I'm listening/responding or not. And I feel sad that when I disconnect it just means no one is making an effort. I sometimes say (if she jumps in talking while I'm doing something) 'Ok, but I just need to finish doing this first' and she will stop but it can mean we just sit in silence or she will line up various things for me 'when you're finished', which drives me equally mad.
Appuskidu oh gosh, that is hard. My dm is more lighthearted about it, but has her Baby Jane moments, like she needs to be the centre of attention and some of her anecdote-telling is part of that performance. She has this little nose-wrinkle/giggle she does when she thinks she's being cute, drives me mental!
AuntFidgetWonkhamStrongNajork 'is he dead' - fantastic!
Graphista yes, I do wonder if the stroke took place in a part of her brain where something had been brewing for years as it just seems this same behaviour is intensified, there is nothing new really. A few years ago she stopped saying please and thank you, a lot of her issues are executive function deficit stuff.
She seems iike the least lonely/depressed person I know and always has plenty of people to chat to (she could talk for hours well before she lived alone). She could surround herself with friends every day of the week if she wanted. She has gone through several life-changing events in the last few years but seems to have come out of it so well due to her oddly insular/unfocused nature.
My gran had depression/anxiety and dementia so I know what it can look like. This certainly is not like that (though everyone is different). I do feel like my mum would be very upfront about her feelings, she will tell me if something upsets her, if she felt down etc.
The thing about these anecdotes is that my participation is requested, she keeps saying 'do you remember when we' etc so she definitely knows I know the story. For a lot of them I was there ffs. Yes I remember when that happened, yes I was there, yes it happened just that way but I was there so I do remember etc etc etc. It's just like she is looking down a cognitive tunnel, she can't turn the ship around (and other mixed metaphors lol).
OhCalamity re your expressway I envision it as one of those canyons like Wile E Coyote used to fall down. It's like we're on a precipice and then all it takes is one phrase or 'do you remember the time' and I know we've gone over the edge and all you can do is ride it out.