Woman With Dementia Shares a Brief, Miraculous Breakthrough With Husband at Wedding

Ann Pendola, who was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia on November 19, 2019, experienced a rare and emotional moment of clarity when her husband, Stephen Pendola, sang to her during a family wedding.

Frontotemporal dementia is a type of brain disease that affects personality, behavior, and language. And according to Ann’s granddaughter, Sarah Dennison, the symptoms advanced quickly. 

Still, Dennison told PEOPLE exclusively that the one thing consistently reached her grandmother was music. Ann had “always loved to dance” and would often “light up with music.”

That connection became heartbreakingly clear on May 16, 2021, when the 78-year-old attended a relative’s wedding in East Northport, New York, with several family members. 

During the reception, Stephen, also 78 at the time, took the microphone to perform “My Way.” Having sung in a doo-wop band when he was younger, Stephen rarely ...