Dementia Pussycat & The Leaning Tower of Lipstick

My cat is getting weirder. My mom suggested she may be getting dementia as she is about 77 in cat years. Great. Incidentally, that is the same age as my grandmother. She is building a tower of lipsticks and has approximately five-hundred boxes of earrings on her dressers and nightstand. The shoes in her closet are in boxes to the ceiling. It worries me. It's not just that she shops alot, it's that she can't get rid of anything (unless she can give it to me or mom.) She has a lipstick that she wore on a family trip to Arizona in 1970 and she can't part with it because it breaks her heart. It smells like cancer. My mom was freaking out about my Grandma's spending spree yesterday, saying that she's been like this since my Grandpa had a stroke and never came home. I asked her if she was this bad before and she said "No, all your Grandma had was an old, ratty, brown coat that she wore for years." Well, maybe that's why! I know she never really lacked alot, my Grandpa gave them a pretty good life financially. I also know he could be very, very hard to live with and perhaps it was easier for her to go through life with an old coat than to ask for a new one. I won't presume to have any idea! Who knows what happens in the psyche of someone else's marriage. Maybe she just misses having someone to take care of and doesn't know what else to do with her time. I know how therapeutic shopping can be. I'm afraid I also know what a compulsion it can be. I'm getting better. Heh heh. In the meantime, I hope the cat doesn't die under my bed.