AlzAuthors Book Sale
Stock Up On Great Alzheimer’s and Dementia Books! AlzAuthors is the global community of authors writing about Alzheimer’s and dementia from personal experience. I am fortunate to be one of the three founders of this nonprofit organization. This sale is an excellent opportunity to pick up new books about Alzheimer’s and dementia at discounted prices. Some are even free! The books represent a variety of genres: non-fiction, fiction, memoir, children’s books, and more. AlzAuthors Book Sale & Giveaway in Honor of Caregiver Appreciation Month Starts November 10th They cover a wide range of situations: caring for a parent, a spouse, Alzheimer’s, early-onset dementia, and more. All are available in a…
Dogs, Dementia and Kindness
A woman approached us as we walked along the sidewalk in the hospital corridor near my home. “May I ask you a question?” she asked. “Sure.” “Is it okay if I approach your dog?” “Of course.” She walked up to Jaxon and kneeled down to pet him. “Oh, I so needed a mini Schnauzer ‘fix’ this morning. We don’t live here and our dog is back home. I miss her so.” She looked up at me. “My husband is in the Intensive Care Unit.” “Oh, dear. Covid?” I asked. “No, he had a heart attack. And, last night they had to take him back into surgery where he then suffered…
“Somebody Stole My Iron” made it to the Best Alzheimer’s Books of All Time
I’m excited to announce that Somebody Stole My Iron: A Family Memoir of Dementia was selected for BookAuthority’s Best Alzheimer’s Books of All Time. BookAuthority collects and ranks the best books in the world, and it is a great honor to get this kind of recognition. Thank you, dear readers, for all your support!
Opportunity
By Vicki Tapia Opportunity: a favorable, appropriate, or advantageous combination of circumstances; a chance or prospect What would life be like without opportunity? I find the thought rather bleak. Opportunity can be sought after, but it can also seek us. Opportunity sought me when I became the family caregiver for both my parents, who had dementia. How often do we look at a person with dementia and see…well, see a demented person? As yet, there’s no way to slow or stop the progression of this devastating disease, so how could we possibly reframe it as an opportunity in, and of, itself? Can we not only learn to accept the person’s…
Excerpt from Somebody Stole My Iron
The Curious Occurrence of the Comet Cleanser Mom’s shoes had developed a pervasive stench. There was no other way to describe it. In hindsight, I realize it may have been related to the fact that she continuously wore the same pair of leg-support knee-highs. I was somehow deluded into thinking she washed them occasionally. Now I realize she probably did not. I could have been more proactive about washing them myself, but she always wore them, and did not want an additional pair as she felt the cost was too expensive. It would have been an excellent idea if I had bought her a second pair anyway, and helped her…
Reticence
An unexplained inner drive compelled me to document a multi-year sojourn that I took with my parents. It was the last journey we took together…a journey down the rabbit hole of dementia. Within months of each other, Dad received a diagnosis of Parkinson’s-related dementia and shortly thereafter, Mom, with Alzheimer’s disease. During the first year, I began a diary to record our odyssey. Journaling every evening helped me unwind and release some of the turbulent emotions involved with the day-to-day challenges we faced. This journal became my confidante to whom I could “say” anything without fear of reprisal and it asked for nothing in return. It simply listened.
Finding My Tribe
Aren’t you curious to know more? Why do you find this boring? If you could peer into my brain, you might observe these questions bouncing around. I remember being admonished as a child for acting “too inquisitive” or alternately, “too sensitive.” As an adult I’m sometimes told that, in conversations, I either give too many details or ask for too many details, depending on whether I’m telling the story or listening to one. Or worse, I confess to interrupting someone else’s story (my husband) to add more details when I don’t feel he’s imparting enough information. Okay, so I like details! Watching movies, it’s not uncommon for me to be…
Turn Around, Red Robin
Last week I was reminded that answers or solutions aren’t necessarily what or even where they initially appear… I opened the pedestrian door from our garage onto our patio to sounds of frantic fluttering and flapping, coming from our next-door neighbor’s yard. My first thought was “Oh, no, an injured bird.” As I walked closer to the fence dividing our yards, that’s indeed what it appeared. I saw a robin hopping about and frantically flapping his wings. However, when I looked more closely, I realized that wasn’t it at all. The robin was “imprisoned” inside a loop of chicken wire mesh. In an attempt to keep his dog away from…
Aged Appreciation
Appreciation: thankful recognition or gratitude Although Mom passed away 8 years ago from complications of Alzheimer’s disease, a belated appreciation of her has slowly blossomed, especially in the past couple of years. At random moments, I’ve experienced an unmistakable yearning to hug her tenderly and voice my gratitude one more time. In earlier years, I sometimes seemed to lack the ability to show my appreciation in a way that she could relate. She was born in a time of little. As a child, farm work was the only extra-curricular activity she experienced outside of school. On the other hand, while I was growing up as the only child still at…
Imagine
According to Albert Einstein, “Imagination … is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”[1] It was late afternoon when my doorbell rang. I peeked carefully out the window and there stood a clean-cut young man. I thought, “Uh oh, a magazine salesman,” but something moved me to open the front door anyway. “Hi, My name is Mikhail.” He turned slightly to point behind him at the sidewalk steps leading up onto the walkway to our front porch. “I’ve long admired those steps and I’m wondering if it would be all right to stand on them next Saturday when I propose to my girlfriend?” “Whaat?” That wasn’t…
Author | Adventurer | Advocate
