Alzheimer's Daughter

The Story

Alzheimer’s Daughter introduces the reader to my healthy parents, Ed and Ibby, years before their diagnosis, then recounts painful details as our roles reversed and I became my parents’ parent.


Their disease started as translucent, confused thoughts and ended in a locked memory care unit after a near decade of descent into the opaque world of Alzheimer's.

I began writing Alzheimer’s Daughter one week after my mother's death––when I was stunned, realizing Dad had no memory of her or their 66-year marriage.

I write to pay tribute to the undying spirit at Ed and Ibby's core, and with the hope that the story of their parallel decline might be helpful to others.

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Michelle Spray Writes a Helpful Children's Book: Waiting for the Mailman

By Michelle Spray

Waiting for the Mailman is a wonderfully written and much-needed children’s book about Alzheimer’s. It details the progression from dementia in easy language from the point of view of Niki, whose Grandma Louise lived with them. Niki loved to have cookie dunking contests with Grandma to see how long the cookie stayed in the milk without crumbling! “Our very favorite thing to do was to laugh and tell stories together while sitting in the kitchen. She taught me the importance of staying strong and being true to my authentic self. … Sometimes Grandma would look all over the house for something that she had misplaced. I lose stuff all the time, but for some reason when Grandma couldn’t find something she would get really upset. I think it was because she was losing things more and more. One day, Grandma even lost herself. The police found her and brought her back home safely. She peeked in the doorway but still looked confused … Grandma loved to wait for the mailman, even if he'd already delivered the mail! She waited and waited and waited. Every time she walked to the mailbox she wore her winter coat and hat, even in the hot summer.”

Niki shares stories about Grandma; the time she left the stove on and the house filled with smoke, how she stopped wanting to play cards and began repeat phrases. The day Grandma didn’t recognize her, she tried not to cry. “I soon stopped trying to make her know me because it made her upset. Instead, I smiled, and tried to make her smile with a song or a poem that she might remember from her childhood. In time, she forgot a lot more things, but that's okay because I knew to expect it.”

To read the remainder of Michelle's post go to AlzAuthors: https://alzauthors.com/2020/06/09/michelle-spray-waiting-for-mail-man/

Tuesday, June 2, 2020



AlzAuthors celebrates 5 years of connecting dementia resources with caregivers this month. I’ve been honored to be a part of the management team from the beginning and am truly amazed both by how this organization has grown, and what it has accomplished. We are now almost 250 authors strong. Learn more about what we’re up to at AlzAuthors here: 
https://alzauthors.com/2020/06/01/5-years-of-caring/