FLYING TO THE MOON: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Alzheimer's tells of the enduring devotion of a daughter and her beloved mother, their lives imperiled by an abusive marriage and a debilitating disease. As Ivy's awareness diminishes and Jennifer's marriage unravels, they come together to embrace a new reality accentuated by poetry, piano duets and their celebration of the nonsensical. Once a self-reliant single mother in control of her life, Jennifer returns to her art and discovers a newfound confidence and direction, her mother resolute in support despite the ravages of Alzheimer's. Set in vibrant, multicultural Miami, this affectionate account of a mother and her daughter's journey touches on universal themes of loss, survival and empowerment. Poignant, honest and inspiring, Flying to the Moon offers hope to everyone affected in some way by this tragic affliction.
Adventures in Mother-Sitting is the story of the final dance between Eva Cox and her daughter Doreen "Dody" Cox. Eva Cox was a young hardworking widow with four little girls. She was an incredible nurse, visiting needy families like hers every day for decades. How did her golden years wind up? Did she go out with her "boots on?" Eva's life ended in a manner she would have never guessed. Her daughters, friends, neighbors, and total strangers spent three years caring for Eva in her home as she receded into a second childhood by way of dementia. Follow Dody's saga in both leading and following her mother through the final dance of Eva's life.
Marian Tally Simmons Brown served as her mother’s caretaker for ten years as she suffered through Alzheimer’s disease. In Alzheimer’s Caregiver—a Daughter’s Story, Brown offers a true-to-life account of the family’s struggle to accept an Alzheimer's diagnosis for their wife, mother, and grandmother, and it tells of their determination to keep her in the family home for all her natural days. During this time, Brown undergoes a monumental spiritual and psychological metamorphosis. While her mother’s change is decline of all bodily systems, hers is development of skills to help her function more effectively in her new role and ultimately move closer to fulfilling her ordained life plan. Help comes through CNAs, sitters, even strangers who unexpectedly show up in parking lots and on her job with an encouraging word and in restaurants offering extra pairs of hands to help with her parents. In this memoir, Brown tells how her caregiving role taught her many lessons. Toward the end of her tenth year, she reasoned the greatest accomplishment of motherhood is being in the midst of the family circle; it was from there her mother continued to teach her despite the loss of parts of herself.
This edition of the inspirational #1 bestseller draws on a new year of Jann's diaries and her mother's final days. When beloved singer and songwriter Jann Arden's parents built a house just across the way from her, she thought they would be her refuge from the demands of her career. And for a time that was how it worked. But then her dad fell ill and died, and just days after his funeral, her mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. In Feeding My Mother, Jann shares what it is like for a daughter to become her mother's caregiver—in her own frank and funny words, and in recipes she invented to tempt her mom. Full of heartbreak, but also full of love and wonder.
This gripping story of the doctors at the forefront of Alzheimer’s research and the courageous North Dakota family whose rare genetic code is helping to understand our most feared diseases is “excellent, accessible...A science text that reads like a mystery and treats its subjects with humanity and sympathy” (Library Journal, starred review). Every sixty-nine seconds, someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Of the top ten killers, it is the only disease for which there is no cure or treatment. For most people, there is nothing that they can do to fight back. But one family is doing all they can. The DeMoe family has the most devastating form of the disease that there is: early onset Alzheimer’s, an inherited genetic mutation that causes the disease in one hundred percent of cases, and has a fifty percent chance of being passed onto the next generation. Of the six DeMoe children whose father had it, five have inherited the gene; the sixth, daughter Karla, has inherited responsibility for all of them. But rather than give up in the face of such news, the DeMoes have agreed to spend their precious, abbreviated years as part of a worldwide study that could utterly change the landscape of Alzheimer’s research and offers the brightest hope for future treatments—and possibly a cure. Drawing from several years of in-depth research with this charming and upbeat family, journalist Niki Kapsambelis tells the story of Alzheimer’s through the humanizing lens of these ordinary people made extraordinary by both their terrible circumstances and their bravery. “A compelling narrative…and an educational and emotional chronicle” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), their tale is intertwined with the dramatic narrative history of the disease, the cutting-edge research that brings us ever closer to a possible cure, and the accounts of the extraordinary doctors spearheading these groundbreaking studies. From the oil fields of North Dakota to the jungles of Colombia, this inspiring race against time redefines courage in the face of this most pervasive and mysterious disease.
A mother and daughter find what they share in their bones in this compelling novel from the bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Backyard Bird Chronicles. Ruth Young and her widowed mother have always had a difficult relationship. But when she discovers writings that vividly describe her mother’s tumultuous life growing up in China, Ruth discovers a side of LuLing that she never knew existed. Transported to a backwoods village known as Immortal Heart, Ruth learns of secrets passed along by a mute nursemaid, Precious Auntie; of a cave where dragon bones are mined; of the crumbling ravine known as the End of the World; and of the curse that LuLing believes she released through betrayal. Within the calligraphied pages awaits the truth about a mother's heart, secrets she cannot tell her daughter, yet hopes she will never forget... Conjuring the pain of broken dreams and the power of myths, The Bonesetter’s Daughter is an excavation of the human spirit: the past, its deepest wounds, its most profound hopes.
Traces the cultural process through which American women become married as reflected by the experiences of patrons at a family-owned bridal shop in Michigan, offering insight into how the rite of passage reflects national views on marriage.
Improve your brain health and lower your risk of mental decline by following the breakthrough Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. Enjoying a high quality of life as you get older means taking care of your brain as much as your body. And research suggests that what you eat today will help (or hurt) your cognitive abilities later. The MIND Diet explains the science behind mental fitness in an approachable and understandable way. More importantly, this helpful guide presents an easy-to-follow program for keeping your mind sharp by eating the right foods and avoiding brain-harming ones. Packed with dishes that are not only delicious but also help improve memory, concentration and mental acuity, The MIND Diet’s healthy recipes include: Brussels Sprouts Frittata Sweet Potato Lentil Soup Pistachio Mint Couscous Guacamole-Stuffed Tomatoes Apricot-Glazed Salmon Tango Fish Tacos Banana Chocolate Cookies Roasted Chicken with Fennel
This is a book about living with Alzheimer’s, not dying with it. It is a book about hope, faith, and humor—a prescription far more powerful than the conventional medication available today to fight this disease. Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the US—and the only one of these diseases on the rise. More than 5 million Americans have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia; about 35 million people worldwide. Greg O’Brien, an award-winning investigative reporter, has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's and is one of those faceless numbers. Acting on long-term memory and skill coupled with well-developed journalistic grit, O’Brien decided to tackle the disease and his imminent decline by writing frankly about the journey. O’Brien is a master storyteller. His story is naked, wrenching, and soul searching for a generation and their loved ones about to cross the threshold of this death in slow motion. On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimer’s is a trail-blazing roadmap for a generation—both a “how to” for fighting a disease, and a “how not” to give up!
Fingernail Moon, the true story of a mother and daughter’s courageous journey. An inspiring story of Janie Webster’s daring quest to save her daughter’s life. When Webster discovered that her husband had sexually abused their daughter, her seemingly content life changed forever. She began divorce proceedings, but the court allowed unsupervised visits between father and daughter. Then her husband was diagnosed with AIDS. Terrified that he could further abuse and even infect their daughter, Janie Webster knew that she had to flee. Mother and daughter embarked on a five-year journey around the world. Although often discouraged, they found within their physical journey a deep spiritual meaning. With God’s guidance, they established and reestablished new lives in the countries where they stayed, finding people they could trust who provided them with friendship and assistance. Despite the threat of deportation and imprisonment hanging over them, they sensed the hand of God engineering their safe passage.
