It has forced George from his career.
It will soon force the couple, together for 34 years and married for 31, from their lovely Ancaster home to a condo. And within the next decade, it will force George into an institution. And he won't even know it. But Karyn and the kids will see it take place in front of their eyes.
"Our kids are heartbroken and devastated," their mother says of the couple's two daughters, ages 27 and 25.
"That tears me apart," George said of the thought his family will be the ones to suffer. "I have a great wife and I want to be a good partner. I'm very blessed to have Karyn. I really am."
George's concerns centre on the future.
"I worry about knowing my grandchildren. I hope to have grandchildren and I would like to be coherent enough to be able to enjoy them. I will be with Karyn a lot because we will be babysitting. I just want to make sure I'm not a babbling idiot as a grandfather," he said Thursday outside his home.
Speaking from the couple's dining room table as the Montanis take a break from packing — they will move before the end of the month — Karyn said in the months before the bus terminal incident, she had become aware that George, who worked at home for the most part, was becoming frustrated. He couldn't complete his work designs.
"I chalked it up to stress. Because what he does is very competitive. And at 55 or 56 years old … I could hear the frustration. I just chalked it up to pressure."
Then he seemed to be becoming more forgetful. She was starting to constantly remind him of items he needed to take with him when he was heading off to work.
George's concerns centre on the future.
Karyn called Tom Vallesi, a Canadian Football League referee and the referee-in-chief of the Hamilton Football Officials Association, and colleague Adelmo Monaco. This was two and half years ago.
"I said, 'You need to let me know if he is making mistakes. I'm a little concerned.' And they said, 'He is doing some stuff. Not big stuff, but he is doing some stuff.' He was just doing some odd things on the field."
Everyone's antennae were up.
As a head referee, George was always positioned behind the quarterback or the punter on the field. But when the ball changed possession, George was frequently in the wrong position. And this for a guy who was so accomplished as an official he had been tapped to officiate three Vanier Cups, including the 2011 overtime McMaster win over Laval, considered by many as the greatest Canadian university contest ever played.
"What I couldn't figure out was, why was I always on the wrong side? I was wrong all the time. It had to be something. That's when I said something is wrong. I know that something is wrong," George recalls.
On one occasion when he was being driven home from a game, he had trouble providing the right directions to his house.
And on another occasion, George was being picked up for a game. He closed the door, got into his car and turned the ignition on. He then got out of the car and was picked up. He left the car with the windshield wipers flipping back and forth.
As is the case with some of those suffering from dementia, George argues with the account.
"I told you how that happened. I don't like to keep people waiting. So I jumped out of the car. No big deal. I know I did that. So it's not a case of being absent-minded, OK?"
Another game, George got hit on the field and blacked out. Concerned, Karyn had him go to the hospital for a CT scan. The neurologist cleared him.
"But things kept getting more progressive."