This study aimed to problematize existing knowledge of person-centered care and salutogenic approach from participant observations at a care home and to discuss new understanding for what person-centered care is according to a complexity of realities and mysteries about living with dementia. We conducted participant observations 2-3 days per week for 6 months with specific interviews at a care home in Sweden for persons with a dementia diagnosis. These were analyzed by 'mystery creation and solving work' according to Alvesson and K & auml;rreman. The resident's pleas to go home need to be understood as her suffering caused by the loss of her home which gives the foundation of selfhood/identity and comfort. The resident's kicking and punching could be understood as a reasonable response in an embodied way. The resident's lifeworld is changed and new by living with memory loss. Placing the person at the center of their care means listening to what the person living with dementia feels and thinks here and now, and not just focusing on keeping what the person did in the past. Person-centered care is required that recognizes health as a whole, embraces suffering, and always reads embodied messages of persons with dementia. Violent behavior needs to be explored as it may be a reaction to caregivers' attitudes and approaches, to stressful environments and situations. Attention needs to be paid to experiences of living with dementia that may cause a person to contemplate their existential quest or spirituality.