Excellent A Journey with Alzheimer's Love Endures All Things by Ginda Simpson

More than two decades have passed since my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and my mother was thrust into her caregiving role, a task she faced with courage, deep faith, and the iron will of her enduring love for my father. Did she imagine that her reaction and her actions following this news would resonate for years to come? Did she imagine that her loving care for our father was a lesson and a blessing in the making? Did she know that she was modeling what it means to love in a whole new way, the most deeply selfless way, in the face of such heartache and decline? Did I imagine that I would be caregiving twenty years later? But here I am, grateful for her example and what it taught me. I can only hope to be as strong, as fearless and as faith-filled as she was. I learned much throughout my father’s unforgettable and invaluable journey with Alzheimer’s. With pen and paintbrush in hand, I drew this portrait using both images and words to record what we, as a family, experienced. My father was a physician, writer and teacher, and as such, would have wanted his final life journey to illustrate and illuminate for both his family and the medical community the mysteries and the magnitude of Alzheimer’s. Confident that my father would have wanted me to write this story, I set myself to the task. LOVE ENDURES ALL THINGS - A Journey with Alzheimer's is my way of honouring my father, a man of infinite courage and integrity. His was an extraordinary life. My hope is that my words will offer comfort and courage to others on a similar journey. This is a daughter’s story and it is as much about caregiving as it is about Alzheimer’s. What lessons did I learn from this experience? I learned to cherish the memories of the man that Dad was and to respect and love the man he had become. I learned that no matter how much we may want to do so, we cannot pull an Alzheimer’s patient back into our world. We must hold their hand and enter into their new reality, thus letting them know that they are not alone and this surely must help diminish their fears. When their thoughts are jagged and distorted, we can blanket them in thoughtfulness. When their words no longer make sense or become lost altogether, we can soothe them with the sound of our voice. When they lose sight of the world as they once knew it, we can make sure they see our smiles. When their bodies no longer feel or act as their own, we can comfort them with the familiar and healing warmth of human touch. I learned that as we add light to the darkness of their confused world, our world becomes illuminated. I learned that by helping in their weakness, we become strong. I learned that as one hand reaches out to the Alzheimer’s sufferer, the other must reach out to those who love and care for them – for theirs is a journey of an ever-shifting reality, fraught with fear and frustration, emotional stress and physical exhaustion. They need to know that they, too, are not alone. We must journey with them, for it truly is a journey worth taking. Do you find yourself perplexed by the changes you see in your aging parent or friend? Are you concerned about what it means to lose a loved one to Alzheimer’s? Will you be able to care for them with the patience and love that is required?  I am pleased and grateful to announce that the second and newly designed edition of Love Endures All Things - A Journey with Alzheimer's is now available on Amazon. Author Notes I have had to pull back from time spent reviewing in order to devote my time to this book. Not only is this my story but it is also my artwork. I have used my paintings to illustrate the progression of the disease as I felt my father's memory did not altogether disappear, but fragmented, broken into pieces like a mosaic. If you or someone you know is dealing with a loved one with Alzheimer's, I hope you will tell them about my book. Perhaps my words will ease their journey.

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