A client of mine lost her husband to Alzheimer’s last year.  As his main care giver, she  read everything she could find about people’s personal struggles with Alzheimer’s.  This literary journey hasn’t stopped with his death.  In her grief, she continues to read about other families’ experiences and the disease that took her loved one.

I read them to find out how other people dealt with it.  You know, what I could have maybe done differently?  And what I did right, she said.

This is her list of titles:

Before I Forget by B. Smith and Dan Gasby.

Come Back Early Today, by Marie Marley, Ph.D.

Slow Dancing With a Stranger by Meryl Comer.

The Long Hello by Cathie Barrie.

To Johnny With Love by Dagmar Christine Albert

My Mom, My Hero by Lisa R. Hirsch.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.

She also recommended two books that are fiction based on fact:

Inside the O’Briens by Lisa Genova and

Turn of Mind by Alice La Plante.

Those of you who are dealing with Alzheimer’s may recognize certain aspects of your situation as you read.  I hope you find new solutions and humour as well as pathos in these books.

Thanks, Donna, for sharing.

Yours truly,

Margaret Jean.