![]() I related to the imperfection and impatience of the author. I know firsthand the sorrow and the staggering steps. I had a much shorter "walk" with my own mother who suffered vascular dementia. Nevertheless, the author (finally) shares valuable insights at the book's conclusion that are hard earned wisdom. I suspect (though I don't know) that the relevant strategies shared in the Afterword are very common ones in literature for caregivers of those suffering from Alzheimer's. Save yourself the slog and cut right to the end. The narrative of the final weeks of Fay's life (truly touching and incidentally plays out at the beginning of the Pandemic) and the "Afterword" are the only parts of this book worth reading in my opinion. The real heroes are the author's friends who were the consistent caregivers of Fay and had no biological connection. A much shorter narrative (maybe even magazine article length) with "Aha" moments/ strategies interwoven would have been a much more engaging text. The author made us "walk" as long and as far as she did, and I felt as exhausted by the journey. Let's just say it was a LOOOOOOOONNNGGG walk with Fay. While the author and all caregivers are to be applauded, the book is not. Hard to be critical of a book about a mother/daughter navigating dementia. I was moved by this book, “Walking with Fay.” It is every bit as beautiful as its characters – and the love they all had for each other. Maybe – just maybe – having read this book, even through the advancing, merciless fog of dementia, we will try to be a little kinder, a little more humble, a little more gracious toward our own caregivers. But if you love.love will make it all ok”.Īnd then maybe some day many of us will be “Fay” to someone else. If you're not, Carolyn essentially says in this book, “It's ok. If you've been a caregiver, you will recognize the turmoil they all go through. And she has celebrated some wonderful friendships – the kind of loving, selfless friendships that made me want to be a better friend. She has aired her mistakes, her fears, her triumphs, her imperfections, and her pain and she has done so in a way that is so familiar and accessible to each of us. As medical science extends life, only those who die young themselves will escape the experience of nursing a loved one into the next life.Īnd Carolyn.oh, Carolyn. I highly recommend this book for anyone to read – regardless of your occupation or your relationship to an aging friend or family member. This book is transparent, honest, funny, real, intimate, revealing, and so, so insightful. Knowing what I know now, I didn't need ANY of those motivations. I didn't expect a lot from this book, but I like Carolyn, so I read it. And I know Denise, and Ginny, and Jeff, and Sam, and John, and.Hannah. Not intimately, but we're friends, I think, and we trust each other. Actually, tears welled up, and as I was reading a passage to my wife, I found myself getting choked up and found it difficult to speak. One could read only THIS chapter, and it would be worth the price of the book. And then, I cried while reading the chapter called, “Final Chapter”. Well, I read the book, and I found myself engrossed. I'm a pretty sensitive guy, but still a guy.
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