Enjoy This Unique Illustrated Caregiver Guide by Gina Awad

Gina Awad, from Exeter, UK, along with her illustrator, Tony Husband, has written a unique, illustrated guide to dementia care, focusing on six families of diverse backgrounds through her new book, United Caring For Our Loved Ones.

Gina says:

On deeper reflection I recalled my early childhood experiences visiting care homes with my grandmother who partook in creative arts with the residents. As an 8 year old and over 4 decades earlier I remembered not the residents engaging with the arts but those that weren’t. Being a little girl my emotions were stirred and I felt a sense of isolation, fear and vulnerability coming from the residents who I now know were living with advanced dementia. I believe these strong emotions and my naturally empathic nature connected all those years ago with the people, and my study ignited them. This was the catalyst in my mission and sits at the heart of what I do and why I do it.

Click here to read Gina's essay on AlzAuthors.

Scott Rose

Introducing Scott M. Rose and His Beautiful Memoir, 

We Danced; Our Story Of Love and Dementia

Have you seen this gorgeous book? I was captivated by the beauty of the cover. Scott Rose pours his spouse caregiver story out in We Danced: Our Story of Love and Dementia.

Scott writes:

I watched all the things that we built start to fade as things do, but saw our love remain – the most important aspect of our life together. Despite communication barriers and behavioral crashes, we sustained that love till, and through, her last breath, with me weeping at her bedside.

Read Scott's entire post on AlzAuthors.com:

https://alzauthors.com/2022/05/24/scott-rose-we-danced-love-and-alzheimers/

Introducing Lisa Graff and her book for teens, Up In the Sky So Blue

I recently posted this meme to social media with this wording: "Visiting an elderly loved one may be uncomfortable, but it brings them so much momentary joy. Do what is hard. Visit anyway."

I received these comments from our authors:

"Visiting loved ones is such an act of love. Even if they don't remember the visit, they will remember how loved you made them feel." and "Just do it!"

We've all been there. We've dreaded the visit to elderly parents. But this is why we do what we do at AlzAuthors. We make the uncomfortable more comfortable. We support those currently on the journey to let them know they are not alone.

Thank you for your support of AlzAuthors now and always as we mark our 7th anniversary. Who ever would have thought we'd still be working on this passion project. We fill a need in so many...a thirst for knowledge and a hand to hold through the darkness of a caregiving journey.

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Introducing Lisa Graff

Don't you love the cover of this book? It evokes so many childhood memories but reveals neither happiness nor sadness. You have to read the book to learn the story of 5th grader, Marissa, and her Grammy.

Lisa writes:

Knowing how painful this was for my mother, what if a child had to deal with an elderly parent or grandparent who was experiencing memory loss? Who would help? If she had no other family, would a stranger come to her rescue?

Up in the Sky So Blue became a children’s novel (and an adult novel) about Alzheimer’s, friendships and love. My descriptions of a fantasy world serve as a reminder that everyone needs self-care and deserves to enjoy life.

Read the rest of Lisa's post:

https://alzauthors.com/2022/06/07/lisa-graff-up-in-the-sky-so-blue/

Retweet our announcement of Lisa's post:

https://twitter.com/AlzAuthors/status/1534253550578110465

Dominick Domasky Pens Memoir, My Name Is Sharon, About His Mother

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Introducing our newest AlzAuthor!

In My Name is Sharon, Dominick Domasky's touching memoir of his mother he writes:

How was I supposed to know that the world would stop, and a global pandemic would settle in? I started writing this book cathartically, never expecting it to be read by others. I was chronicling our family’s struggle and documenting the pain. Then I had an epiphany, Sharon Domasky is more than a victim of disease. I realized as a storyteller it was my duty to try and share her light with the world.

Read the entire post:

https://alzauthors.com/2022/05/11/dominick-domasky-my-name-is-sharon/ 

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Last Thursday I had the honor of presenting a Custom Caregiver Collection to the Alzheimer's Association support group at Soprema Senior Center in Wadsworth, Ohio. Thank you to all who believe so deeply in this project.

For years we've wanted to find a way to get physical books into the hands of those who need them: caregivers and others concerned with dementia. With our tiny team of volunteers this seemed like a long shot. But our dream is coming true! We are now offering

real books

to real people

in real places

through Custom Caregiver Collections

Patti Davis Pens Heartfelt Memoir/Caregiver Guide, Floating In The Deep End

This week AlzAuthors features a beautifully heartfelt memoir by Patti Davis, Floating in the Deep End, written from her experience with her father, President Ronald Reagan, as he declined from Alzheimer's at the end of his life.

Patti writes:

On a blue-sky November day in 1994 I walked into Central Park, which was near my apartment in New York. My mother had just called to tell me that my father was going to release a letter disclosing to the world that he had Alzheimer’s. I had only learned of the diagnosis days earlier. Days before that I had walked in the park weighed down by despair and hopelessness; everything in my life was going wrong, I was completely alone, tired down to my soul, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to go on living. Then I learned that my father had Alzheimer’s, a disease that everyone was aware of but no one was talking about. That could have been the thing that pushed me over the edge, but instead it pulled me back from the edge. It gave me something bigger than myself to focus on. I wanted to show up for this journey, whatever it was going to be. I wanted to be there for my father.

Read the entire post:

https://alzauthors.com/2022/04/26/patti-davis-floating-in-the-deep-end/

Candy Abbott Continues Her Spouse Caregiving Journey in her 2nd Memoir, "And I’ll Never Love Him Less"

Did you know?

AlzAuthors elevates the work of over 300 authors of noteworthy books and blogs though:

• weekly featured blogposts from new authors
• a weekly podcast in which authors reveal more depth about their stories
• live virtual events featuring our authors as panelists
• a bookstore which links straight to Amazon including:
• *memoirs by daughters, sons, spouses, partners, grandchildren,
• *caregiver guides for all stages of Alzheimer's and dementias,
• *fiction for all ages,
• *books for children and teens,
• *various poetry, art books, and quick reads
• our YouTube channel, the home of supportive videos for caregivers
• monthly Zoom training events for our authors to help them learn how to elevate their own platforms

The management team of AlzAuthors thanks each of our authors for allowing us to share their books in our quest to provide caregivers and others concerned with dementia quality resources.

Please continue reading for AlzAuthors' featured book this week.

On the Blog: Candy Abbott

AlzAuthors featured Candy Abbott's first book, I've Never Loved Him More, in September of 2017. Now she continues her story as a spouse caregiver in her second book, And I'll Never Love Him Less. Candy's books are honest and moving. Her covers are stunning and simple as they immediately engage a reader in the desire to know more about the intimate story she is so bravely reveals.

Candy writes:

Drew and I were only as far as the mid-stage of his Alzheimer’s journey when I released book one, and I found myself making promises for “the rest of the story” before I discovered that writing the second half would be more challenging. The first time, whenever something noteworthy or funny happened, I’d race to the keyboard and type it up, so the book sort of wrote itself. But capturing the second half of a day in the life of this caregiver was tedious because Drew followed me around and talked nonstop. He had become needier, and the best I could do was jot the event down on scraps of paper and then hope for a block of time to record the experience. Not only was it not as fresh, but I had to put myself back in the situation and relive each scene. The second half of our journey was more intense. I was adamant about including humor, so I had to diligently search for lighthearted moments and wondered if it would be as well-received as the first book.

Read the entire post here:

https://alzauthors.com/2022/04/06/candy-abbott-mem…er-love-him-less/

 

Neurologist, Dr. Daniel Gibbs, Reveals His Personal Story in A Tattoo on my Brain

It's been so interesting, connecting with Dr. Daniel Gibbs about his ground-breaking new book. As a neurologist, he gives powerful insights into his progression and guides us in our approach to caring for our loved ones in, A Tattoo on My Brain.

Dr. Gibbs writes:

I am a 70-year-old retired neurologist, and I have early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. In retrospect, my first symptom of Alzheimer’s occurred when I was 57 and realized that my sense of smell was not as sharp as it once had been. I chalked this up to normal aging, but about a year later I started to have strange, illusory odors, like the smell of baking bread mixed with perfume. They would come out of nowhere and last a few minutes to an hour or so. These are called phantosmias, and they are sometimes associated with neurodegenerative disorders. At the time I was not aware of the association of loss of smell with Alzheimer’s, but it turns out that virtually all people with the disease have at least some impairment of olfaction when tested, but most are not aware of it. I still wasn’t worried until while doing genealogical research in 2012 I unexpectedly discovered that I have two copies of the APOE-4 allele putting me at very high risk for dementia. Alzheimer’s disease had not been on my radar screen because both my parents had died in midlife from cancer.

Read the entire post on AlzAuthors:

https://alzauthors.com/2022/03/22/dr-daniel-gibbs-a-tattoo-on-my-brain/

Meet Mary Crescenzo, author of "The Planet Alzheimer's Guide: 8 Ways the Arts Can Transform the Life of Your Loved One and Your Own"

 

My life has been enriched by encountering the dynamic Mary Crescenzo, whose list of credentials include master teaching artist, public speaker, playwright, as well as the author of the new book The Planet Alzheimer's Guide: 8 Ways the Arts Can Transform the Life of Your Loved One and Your Own. 

If you are looking for ways to value your loved one with Alzheimer's, while forging a deeper connection with them, I encourage you to purchase Mary's book and try out some of her wonderful ideas.

Mary writes:

I wrote this how-to guide for caregivers, personal and professional, to offer step-by-step tips and techniques so caregivers, family and friends of those with this disorder can discover how interaction and communication, through painting, music, movement, storytelling, poetry and photography, can enrich the lives of loved ones as well as their own, even though they or those they care for may have no arts background.

Read the entire post on AlzAuthors.

https://alzauthors.com/2022/03/01/mary-crescenzo-planet-alzheimers-guide/

Dave Meurer Writes His Book, New Every Day, With Healing Humor

 

Introducing AlzAuthors Featured Book of the Week

This week's new author, Dave Meurer, is an acclaimed humor writer. He has been featured on Focus on the Family and many other publications, and has even done some work for the United States Congress and the California State Senate.

In his latest book, New Every Day: Navigating Alzheimer's With Grace and Compassion, he gives comfort to caregivers through using his characteristic humor to write honestly about the care he and his wife, Dale, provided to his mother-in-law, Karin.

Read the entire post:

https://alzauthors.com/2022/02/01/dave-meurer-new-every-day/

Anthony Copeland-Parker and Partner Catherine Become Marathon Nomads

 

I encounter Anthony Copeland-Parker's book through shared Alzheimer's and dementia tribes on social media. 

He and his partner, Catherine, write an amazingly inspiring travel memoir, Running All Over the World; Our Race Against Early-Onset Alzheimer's, in which they detail their life as marathoning nomads despite life-altering diagnoses which would sideline most people to the security of their home and an easy chair. Instead, they decide to push every boundary and live a life beyond full... to overflowing.

Anthony writes:

Just like the attitude Catherine takes towards running a marathon, she takes when it comes to her diagnosis of Early Onset Alzheimer’s. She just puts her head down, puts one foot in front of the other, and never gives up. Catherine’s resilience or reserve is anything athletic, so we combine that with our love of travel. Catherine has completed 83 marathons, one Iron Man Competition, a 50 miler Ultra Marathon and many races and triathlons of various distances.

During our years as nomads, we've pushed our physical and mental limitations as often as we could - and we finished every race hand in hand.

Read the entire post:

https://alzauthors.com/2022/01/04/anthony-copeland-parker-running-world/