[every]

My wife and I experienced this when my father died. We visited him hours before his death. He looked up at my wife, smiled and said "Mother, you came!" For the next while she sat beside him, rubbed his brow and engaged in small talk as his mother. When he fell asleep we left. He died during the night...

[Boogie_Man]

Simply out of curiosity, does your wife bear even a slight resemblance to your grandmother when she was younger?

[every]

Mama Sally died when I was an infant but I have a studio photo of her. Parasol, large flowered bonnet and full length skirt. All very Edwardian from the early 1900's. As for the features, I look far more like her than my wife. Perhaps the trigger was my wife was a comforting female. She did quite a nice job of being a doting mother soothing an ailing 100 year old child...