Dementia Memoir

I Will Never Forget is the powerful true story of the author Elaine’s talented mother's extraordinary journey through Dementia. Through superb stories from Elaine’s childhood, including her controversial name, tales of smokin’ dragons, and the feisty teenage years, Betty Ward’s wonderful character is revealed. Over time, as their relationship evolves and a new paradigm is formed, her mother begins to exhibit goofy behaviors, uncharacteristic verbal assaults, and bizarre thinking.

The Memory Chalet is a memoir unlike any you have ever experienced before. Each essay charts some experience or remembrance of the past through the sieve of Tony Judt's prodigious mind.

Betty Jane Bredbenner—BJ to her art clients—was an intelligent, healthy woman and a loving wife and mother. From raising five children to running an ER to cultivating a successful career as an artist, it seemed like she would live forever. Until one day, she took a spill while jogging with her dog, Buddy. What seemed at first like a relatively simple injury followed by a quick recovery actually marked BJ’s first step on her journey with dementia.

Do you feel overwhelmed caring for a loved one with dementia? Are you seeking practical advice, emotional support, and comprehensive insights into dementia care? If so, you're not alone. This book offers professional insights, practical strategies, and empathetic support, providing a comprehensive resource for managing daily challenges and complex legal and financial matters. Whether you're a seasoned caregiver or just starting, this guide offers valuable insights and reassuring guidance, making your caregiving journey less arduous and more rewarding.

Based on the "field notes" she keeps in her journal, Memory's Last Breath is Gerda Saunders' astonishing window into a life distorted by dementia. She writes about shopping trips cut short by unintentional shoplifting, car journeys derailed when she loses her bearings, and the embarrassment of forgetting what she has just said to a room of colleagues. Coping with the complications of losing short-term memory, Saunders, a former university professor, nonetheless embarks on a personal investigation of the brain and its mysteries, examining science and literature.

In Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words, Kate Whouley strips away the romantic veneer of mother-daughter love to bare the toothed and tough reality of caring for a parent who is slowly losing her mind. Yet, this is not a dark or dour look at the demon of Alzheimer’s. Whouley shares the trying, the tender, and the sometimes hilarious moments in meeting the challenge also known as Mom.

This is the story of Carolyn’s mother, her dementia, and how they navigated her journey together. Your loved one may not force feed stuffed animals vanilla pudding or burn their neighbor’s mail like Fay did, but if you’re living through the sad realities of your loved one’s slow and tortuous farewell, this book will help you find solace as you deal with it realistically and with a heart at peace.

What if the dreaded world of Alzheimer's was also a world of emotional discovery? Eugenia Zukerman's poetry and simple prose, both heartbreaking and ultimately inspirational, ushers the listener into her world as she unflinchingly examines familial loyalties, moments from her past and present, and the need to face an uncertain future due to the diagnosis of a condition that she truly hopes "will remain unnamed."

The Last Ocean is Gerrard’s investigation into what dementia does to both the person who lives with the condition and to their caregivers. Dementia is now one of the leading causes of death in the West, and this necessary book will offer both comfort and a map to those walking through it. While she begins with her father’s long slip into forgetting, Gerrard expands to examine dementia writ large. Gerrard gives raw but literary shape both to the unimaginable loss of one’s own faculties, as well as to the pain of their loved ones.

Hugh Bonneville is one of Britain's best-loved actors, whose credits include Downton Abbey, W1A and the Paddington films. From getting his big break as third shepherd in the school nativity play, to navigating Highclere Castle's complex Labrador policies, to bizarre Hollywood encounters, Hugh creates a brilliantly vivid picture of a career on stage and screen.

Christine Bryden was a top civil servant and single mother of three children when she was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 46. Since then she has gone on to challenge almost every stereotype of people with dementia. This is a vivid account of the author's experiences of living with dementia, exploring the effects of memory problems, loss of independence, difficulties in communication and the exhaustion of coping with simple tasks. She describes how, with the support of her husband, Paul, she continues to lead an active life and explains how professionals and carers can help.

Freedom 55? The so-called “Golden Years”? What if you are slowly losing your memories and your motor skills? Or what if you are the devastated witness as your partner struggles with dementia? Lewy Body Disease is a form of dementia second only to Alzheimer’s in numbers, yet many doctors and almost no lay people have ever heard its name. This is the story of two courageous people, Julie and Ken Sobol, life partners as well as writing partners. Caught up in the frightening and fatal fog of Lewy Body Disease, they started writing this book together.

On a family vacation in 2009, Dr. Renée Brown Harmon felt the first jolt of fear that something might be wrong. How could her husband, Harvey, a highly intelligent physician, marathon runner, and devoted father, be struggling to keep up with their guide’s simple instructions or unable to do simple math to calculate their daughter’s age? The heartbreaking truth was confirmed nine months later when he was diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease at age fifty.

Mom’s Gone Missing is not a how-to book. It’s a here’s-what-unfolded book, a story of a daughter’s experience with a father’s decade-long Alzheimer’s journey and a mother’s lightning fast dementia decline and both of their deaths.

After a near fatal stroke in 1995, Robert McCrum has gained an intimate understanding of his own mortality. Twenty-two years on, his friends have joined him in experiencing Prospero's 'every third thought' of death as a dominating theme of life. McCrum asks: can we make peace with what Freud calls 'the necessity of dying'? Searching for answers leads him to brain surgeons, psychologists, cancer patients and writers for advice and wisdom.

This book explores Alzheimer’s disease through the intertwined perspectives of a patient and her devoted caregiver, offering a deeply personal look at the emotional, physical, and mental challenges they face. From the first signs of memory loss to the final days of care, listeners are taken on a raw and honest journey through the daily struggles, heartbreaks, and small victories of providing care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s.

At first, Simon’s beloved father, Ted, suffered sudden bad moods and forgetfulness. Then the diagnosis: Alzheimer’s. Ted was disappearing from the family, but Simon wanted to hold on to him. While music could bring him back temporarily - the video of the two of them singing along to Ted’s favorite song was a hit around the world - Ted could no longer tell his story. This is that story.

Andrea struggles to mourn a man who is still alive as she witnesses her father decline into the depths of Alzheimer's. Denial and devastation color her life when she learns her father, Richard, a recently retired surgeon, is diagnosed with Alzheimer's at the age of 67. Her dream to grow closer to him is crushed as the reality of his disease is fully realized. Andrea, a mother of three young children, learns to balance motherhood with daughterhood as she grapples to accept her father's fate.

Dealing with Early-Onset Alzheimer’s: Love, Laughter & Tears is Sonia Discher’s heartbreaking but empowering story of caring for her husband, Steve. The story follows Steve’s diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s at age 50 through treatment, care, and his passing. Sonia provides a look behind the curtain of this terrible sickness to reveal a treasure trove of tips and tricks she used to understand the disease, advocate for her husband, care for her family, and preserve her sanity throughout a confusing and sad time.

When Simon McDermott first noticed his dad Ted's sudden flares of temper and fits of forgetfulness, he couldn't have guessed what lay ahead. Then came the devastating, inevitable diagnosis. As Ted retreated into his own world, Simon and his mum, Linda, desperately tried to reach him until at last: an idea. Turning the ignition in his mum's little run-around, Simon hit 'play' on Ted's favourite song, 'Quando Quando Quando'.