Stolen Memories

Book excerpt: STOLEN MEMORIES deals with the impact of being a caregiver for a parent and how it not only affects one’s job and family, but also one’s mental and physical health. This story deals with the guilt that caregivers often carry as the gradually have to invade their parent’s privacy in order to keep them safe – everything from having to take a driver’s license away, to having to put a parent into an Alzheimer’s care facility. Marie encounters feelings of helplessness as she has to go against her mother’s wishes in order to care for her. Later her struggles through her own dark depression as the hopeless prognosis of Alzheimer’s disease takes its toll on her entire family, understands her agonizing sense that no matter what she did, it wasn’t enough. STOLEN MEMORIES deals with real issues that confront many of us. It is important that those who have been through caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s disease share their stories, as these experiences may help someone recognize and deal with this disease in its early stages.