Last year saw major marriage troubles for Paola and Russ Mayfield as the two nearly split.
They decided to give things another shot, but that doesn’t mean that everything has been easy.
Recently, Paola’s mother was visiting the couple and their son.
She left early and on very bad terms, leaving Pao in tears and struggling to explain what happened.
Paola Mayfield is an OG in the 90 Day Fiance world.
Her love story with Russ is very genuine, but not without its controversies.
While their marriage is in a better place these days, Pao has never needed her husband’s help to be polarizing.
But right now, Paola isn’t making the rounds on social media because of an unhinged anti-vaxx post or another bout of marital struggles.
Instead, a worrisome video of Pao crying outside while speaking into the camera was shared on her Instagram Story.
Not everyone is clear on what’s going on, but we can summarize what she is saying.
According to a tearful Paola, she just dropped off her mother at the airport.
Her mother was supposed to stay with her for a while longer.
However, Pao says that her mom somehow got it into her head that Russ had said something that angered her.
Paola does not get especially specific about what had her mom so angry.
She is adamant, however, that Russ did not actually say whatever it was that her mother was insisting.
Instead, she blames the anger on her mother’s cognitive decline.
Fans weren’t initially sure what Paola meant by this (keep in mind that Instagram Story posts are often viewed in small pieces).
But Paola later wrote a tweet that made it all much clearer.
“F–k Alzheimer’s” is a fairly unambiguous message, one that everyone can get behind.
Cognitive decline in a loved one can be extremely difficult to experience, and is not as simple as forgetfulness.
Frustration over attempts to recall something or performing a once-simple task can make the loved one angry.
The degredation of the prefrontal cortex can lead to outbursts as they lash out at those near them without meaning to.
We are not Paola’s mother’s doctor — or anyone’s doctor — but her pain has been felt by countless people.
She loves her mother, and her mother loves her.
Knowing that her mom is likely struggling to understand social situations and cannot regulate her own emotions makes this so much harder.
It’s not simply that Russ or Pao’s mom did something wrong and is being a jerk about it.
This is a situation where, from what Paola says, no one did anything wrong.
The result is emotional pain and fallout for everyone involved, and she must feel powerless to fix this.
We hope that Paola and her mother are still on good terms after this painful family moment.
Sometimes, even those with severe cognitive decline find themselves having moments of lucidity.
Imagined or real, no one wants to be in a feud with their son-in-law, especially not when they have a grandbaby upon whom to dote.
