Overview
- Leno said the hardest stretch was a roughly three-year period when Mavis woke up each day believing she had just learned her mother had died.
- He reported that she still recognizes him and appears content, though he is aware that could change with disease progression.
- Daily life is tightly limited, so he takes her on drives and they watch travel and animal videos instead of dining out or traveling.
- He uses humor and reassuring rituals to ease confusion, including a running joke he calls “Jay and Mavis at the prom” when carrying her to the bathroom.
- Mavis’ diagnosis became public in January 2024, and a court granted Leno conservatorship of her estate that April as he manages her physical and financial needs.