Acts of Remembering: Alzheimer's Stories
Elaine Blanchard
Memphis, TN (USA)
Born in 1952, practices daily
"The real emergency lies in our capacity to treat ourselves and each other with genuine compassion." Read more…
Cookie Anderson
Milwaukee, WI (USA)
Born in 1943, practices occasionally
"She has enjoyments but sadly cannot remember them two minutes later. Alzheimer's is the biggest thief ever." Read more…
Jane Kinley
Herrin, IL (USA)
Born in 1952, practices daily
"I wish I could say that mom is a sweet, kind, loving person right now, but the truth is, she is very paranoid, angry, and most of the time agitated." Read more…
Deborah Jaegers
Saint Louis, MO (USA)
Born in 1961, practices daily
"Though my father no longer differentiates me from a paid aide, I believe it makes a difference in what I am doing." Read more…
Sid Korpi
Minneapolis, MN (USA)
Born in 1962, practices daily
"One of my dearest gal pals, Evelyn Huffman, was 91 when we became fast friends. I was 42 at the time and had been invited by Evelyn's daughter Pam (a friend of mine for many years) to stop by her..." Read more…
Diana Kubec
Englewood, CO (USA)
Born in 1954, practices daily
"This new dad is replacing unpleasant memories with pleasant, often amusing ones…" Read more…
Laurie Kigner
White Bear Lake, MN (USA)
Born in 1954, practices daily
"There was no longer any way for him to feed his spirit, to feed his soul through his intellect that often lived through his hands." Read more…
Diana Carson
Lawrenceville, GA (USA)
Born in 1943, practices daily
"I don't know who you are, but … I have loved you for a long time. He reached out and took her hand so gently. For a moment the room was filled with their love." Read more…
Madeline Miller
Truro, MA (USA)
Born in 1951, practices weekly
"I hold that advice dear and try to have lots of picnics or just live in a picnic-like way a€" ready with food, family, and friends together in a beautiful place." Read more…
Lea Mathieu
Ione, OR (USA)
Born in 1957, practices daily
"I do not hope for grace and forgiveness in the future — everyone I meet knows I love them now." Read more…
Carol Tremper
Newton, NJ (USA)
Born in 1942, practices rarely
"They had resisted each other's charms for decades by then, so one gift of Alzheimer's was the return of Frances' love for Johnny." Read more…
Eric Rennie
Cromwell, CT (USA)
Born in 1947, practices weekly
"I am an active Episcopalian and currently serve as board chair of the Connecticut Alzheimer's Association. My mother, Ysabel Rennie, was diagnosed with vascular dementia — a first cousin to..." Read more…
Nora Klein
Port Saint Lucie, FL (USA)
Born in 1938, practices occasionally
"I am a married widow." Read more…
Violet Angel
Lancaster, CA (USA)
Born in 1955, practices daily
"My greatest fear then is not being who I could or should be for those I'll leave behind." Read more…
Ann Pannier
Minneapolis, MN (USA)
Born in 1941, practices weekly
"I think I am going into my second childhood." Read more…
Mary Lauck
Greeley, CO (USA)
Born in 1948, practices daily
"Of all he said, that probably broke my heart the most." Read more…
Rachel Knudson
Hartland, MN (USA)
Born in 1978, practices weekly
"Four years ago my mother, sister, and I started noticing my father losing some of his mental acuity. This change seemed fairly obvious with him as he had always been quite intelligent with an..." Read more…
Debra Schulz
Portland, OR (USA)
Born in 1955, practices daily
"Someone asked me a while ago, "Does your Mom still know the Lord." I was bothered by that." Read more…
Pat Gonzalez
Normal, IL (USA)
Born in 1951, practices daily
"Every victim of dementia is an individual. My mom, Margaret White, was born in 1928, the eldest of four, but the last to die and the only one to have dementia. Growing up, she skipped a grade,..." Read more…
Sue Tannehill
Clarence Center, NY (USA)
Born in 1953, practices daily
"My biggest lesson is to live in the present - it won't get better than it is now, and nothing is more important than this time together." Read more…
Marlaine Cox
Minneapolis, MN (USA)
Born in 1967, practices never
"Becoming the caregiver for my mom when I was just learning how to become a mother to my own child has been very difficult on many levels. However, I know that she's helping me be a better..." Read more…
Jonathan Marmorstein
Wilmington, NC (USA)
Born in 1963, practices occasionally
"He has now become turned inside out. A shell, cracked like an egg, slowly the insides seep out. Too slowly for me." Read more…
Anna Mae Paladina
Sarasota, FL (USA)
Born in 1947, practices daily
"This disease robs people of their voice. The thoughts are jumbled in their heads. We must be their voice." Read more…
Raymond W. Holman Jr.
Philadelphia, PA (USA)
Born in 1948, practices daily
"I started working on a project of creating photographic portraits of family caregivers." Read more…
Roberta Lewis-Barton
Grand Rapids, MI (USA)
Born in 1968, practices daily
"There are so many things we can learn about heaven, God, the Divine when we are prevented from making ourselves busy and doing things when we are really being asked to sit at the feet of the Master..." Read more…
Beverly Kerr
Granville, OH (USA)
Born in 1955, practices daily
"Both my mother and father have been afflicted with Alzheimer's. My mother died four years ago and my father's care has been up to my sister and I. We kept him in his home as long as we could, then..." Read more…
Ross Schriftman
Horsham, PA (USA)
Born in 1952, practices monthly
"Having been a long-term care insurance specialist for many years, I didn't really become experienced until I started caring for my mom who developed Alzheimer's." Read more…
Rick Hornay
Tulsa, OK (USA)
Born in 1958, practices weekly
"There is still a personality left in my mother. This is something I hadn't really thought about until now." Read more…
Phyllis Rodgersonpleasants
Richmond, VA (USA)
Born in 1948, practices daily
"My husband of 29 years died on Good Friday this year from dementia/Alzheimer's. Doctors still debate exactly what he had. The disease intensified our love and we interacted up until 48 hours before..." Read more…
Catherine Moore
Roswell, GA (USA)
Born in 1951, practices daily
"How has this changed my life? It has made me wonder a€" am I next?" Read more…
Sally Piper
Santa Barbara, CA (USA)
Born in 1952, practices not applicable (n/a)
"As the sadness and regrets of the past and the anxieties of the future left her, she lightened like a leaf, being lifted through each day by the wind. She opened each day like a present, a grin on..." Read more…
Patricia Eustis
Jamaica Plain, MA (USA)
Born in 1945, practices daily
"That is where our humanity is changed. You become alone and when you crave community you are left with such loneliness." Read more…
Andrea Nistler
Saint Cloud, MN (USA)
Born in 1968, practices daily
"I find the last steps and last words, last harmonica songs, are just as profound and perhaps a gradual weaning from the one I love." Read more…
Phil Weglarz
Chicago, IL (USA)
Born in 1975, practices occasionally
"I learned that loving can be strengthened by memory but it is also a flower that can bloom (or wither) in a moment." Read more…
Roberta Adelman
Denville, NJ (USA)
Born in 1934, practices occasionally
"The understanding of the disease was much different at that time. It was looked upon as mental illness, and treated as such." Read more…
Valerie Tate
Silver Spring, MD (USA)
Born in 1955, practices daily
"Dementia changed everything." Read more…
Tom Harris
Ashtabula, OH (USA)
Born in 1948
"Dad is 93 now and much more spry than I am. He doesn't remember much anymore, but I do, especially on spring days when fathers are out playing ball with their sons." Read more…
Pearl Cannon
Milwaukee, WI (USA)
Born in 1938, practices daily
"Do all you can to help the Alzheimer's patient maintain a quality of life..." Read more…
J. James Russo
New York, NY (USA)
Born in 1991, practices weekly
"I believe in forgiveness, and not in forgetting." Read more…
Constance Lester
Carlisle, PA (USA)
Born in 1976, practices weekly
"Along with our relief at her being cared for safely came tremendous guilt." Read more…
Sidney Williams
Bellmawr, NJ (USA)
Born in 1944
"I told Aunt Myrtle I was sorry she had Alzheimer's but was eternally grateful because my caring for her has opened a whole new life for me and for the first time there are days when I wish I could..." Read more…
Renee Athay
Heber, UT (USA)
Born in 1958, practices daily
"Our family has been discussing dignity — gain, loss. Several of us feel he has nothing to lose, no status to leave." Read more…
Barbara Bedway
Nyack, NY (USA)
Born in 1951, practices not applicable (n/a)
"Alzheimer's takes so much, but the well of emotion in a human being, it does not take. The need for love does not vanish with the loss of language and memory." Read more…
Barbara Bruce
Rush, NY (USA)
Born in 1942, practices daily
"I did not cry when my father died." Read more…
Brittany Foster
Minneapolis, MN (USA)
Born in 1980, practices not applicable (n/a)
"I've been amazed at the mystery of the thing that is going wrong, how they track the damage through the brain. It seems like we are trying to fix a running car, using nothing but a similar model...." Read more…
Barbara Breitman
Philadelphia, PA (USA)
Born in 1949, practices daily
"Although for over a decade my mother could not do anything for me, I realized it was the light in her eyes and her love that was my mother." Read more…
Amy Sobolewski
St. Paul, MN (USA)
Born in 1987, practices daily
"Grandma Tina had been "getting old," but when she woke one morning this summer and started packing up things from her very own dresser, closet, kitchen, and living room to go "home," we knew she..." Read more…
Paul Doss
Evansville, IN (USA)
Born in 1958
"This timing of my father's regression coinciding with my son's development was for me an awesome window into the concept of "circle of life."" Read more…
Judy O'reilly
Stockbridge, GA (USA)
Born in 1955
"I have come upon many people lost in Alzheimer's disease for which these musical gems, these old time favorites, offer a gentle, soothing comfort." Read more…
Joan Hermeyer
Hermann, MO (USA)
Born in 1955, practices rarely
"There is a lot of money to be had by running a home for the elderly. It is big business now that we are living longer." Read more…
Hana York
Portland, (USA)
Born in 1974, practices daily
"I'm very grateful to have been placed in a position to do meaningful work and to deepen my faith and trust in God." Read more…
Claire Twose
Baltimore, MD (USA)
Born in 1962, practices daily
"I thought I'd considered all the potential challenges of an intergenerational marriage, but it never crossed my mind that his memory and mind could decline while his body continued robust and healthy." Read more…
Daphne Messersmith
Duncannon, PA (USA)
Born in 1950, practices daily
"I asked her, "Mom, do you remember doing this to your children?" She turned to me and asked, "Who are my children?"" Read more…
Ginny Markowski
Bonita Springs, FL (USA)
Born in 1946, practices daily
"My mother lived alone in another state, and was always a good listener, so it took us awhile to realize that she was having problems. Her dementia was caused by Parkinson's disease, not..." Read more…
Suann Luther-Ford
Topeka, KS (USA)
Born in 1962, practices rarely
"When I am counting my blessings and saying my thank-yous, I always include my grandmother. Her love for me and her loss of the ability to feel that love and express it filled my life." Read more…
Michael Gore
Greensboro, NC (USA)
Born in Hopkinton, Iowa, practices weekly
"This is the first part of an essay I wrote about working at an adult day care. Most of our participants suffer from Alzheimer's disease. The third section of the essay also deals with a participant..." Read more…
Anne Simpson
St Paul, MN (USA)
Born in 1935, practices daily
"Sometimes when Bob is alone in his room, I will hear him mumble "Thank you" or "That is good" or "I love." I don't know if he is talking to anyone, but I delight in these moments as a new parent..." Read more…
Lori La Bey
Maplewood, MN (USA)
Born in 1959, practices daily
"My mom and her disease have taught me so many simple techniques to connect with the patients and find balance when dealing with crippling disease which affects so many." Read more…
Emily Stoper
Oakland, CA (USA)
Born in 1942, practices weekly
"Now I'm not so sure that Alzheimer's is the worst thing that could happen to me." Read more…
Carol Raphael
New York City, NY (USA)
Born in 1942, practices daily
"When a loved one has dementia, your love remains, and it is possible to translate, understand, and respond to what they are saying." Read more…
Deanna Shapiro
Ferrisburgh, VT (USA)
Born in 1939, practices daily
"As a painter I also believe that any form of creativity with an Alzheimer's person, where appropriate, is a help…" Read more…
Gisela Webb
Bala Cynwyd, PA (USA)
Born in 1949
"I'm a Religious Studies professor, and my mom lived with my husband, children, and me through the earliest and through late stages of Alzheimer's, the last six years in a nursing home (where I got..." Read more…
Marcelyn Smale
St. Cloud, MN (USA)
Born in 1946, practices not applicable (n/a)
"Now this avid reader reads picture books…" Read more…
Elayne Tingey
Hailey, ID (USA)
Born in 1939, practices daily
"… I miss him so and wish we could go for that beer." Read more…
Richard Sullivan
Tulsa, OK (USA)
Born in 1938, practices daily
"There is nothing tragic about these loving, gentle people." Read more…
Ruth Soukup
Bemidji, MN (USA)
Born in 1947, practices occasionally
"A number of relationship issues are becoming more clear..." Read more…
Christine Sotmary
Crompond, NY (USA)
Born in 1951, practices daily
"Ours is an upbeat approach to Alzheimer's and gives hope to those who are newly diagnosed." Read more…
Carolyn Cornell
Austin, TX (USA)
Born in 1934, practices daily
"Why does he have to disappear? And what do I say to this person of that former person I held so dear?" Read more…
Geoffrey Cornish
Laguna Hills, UK
Born in 1954, practices daily
"My mother quickly succumbed in a matter of a few short months, after long battles with bodily health in her post-menopausal life. My father had become, without us children fully appreciating the..." Read more…
Teresa Pearson
Inkster, MI (USA)
practices not applicable (n/a)
"I helped take care of them for the last ten years of their lives. I was amazed at the love they gave to each other for so many years. My mom, even though she was losing her memory, would remind me..." Read more…
Felicia Blasi
Racine, WI (USA)
Born in 1955, practices daily
"My mother died, finally, in May of 2007 after having lived with Alzheimer's (or dementia? no one seemed to know which, and it really didn't matter, for the symptoms are the same). While my sister,..." Read more…