I am seventy years old. I am astonished to be writing this, as doubtful of the truth of it as if I had just written, "I am a peacock."
October 30, 2010
I'll Be Seeing You ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 2020, memoirThe failing of an aging parent is one of those old stories that feels abrasively new to the person experiencing it. At eighty-nine years of age, my father has begun, in his own words, to "lose it."
Elizabeth Berg’s father was an Army veteran who was a tough man in every way but one: He showed a great deal of love and tenderness to his wife. Berg describes her parents’ marriage as a romance that lasted for nearly seventy years; she grew up watching her father kiss her mother upon leaving home, and kiss her again the instant he came back. His idea of when he should spend time away from her was never.
But then Berg’s father developed Alzheimer’s disease, and her parents were forced to leave the home they loved and move into a facility that could offer them help. It was time for the couple’s children to offer, to the best of their abilities, practical advice, emotional support, and direction — to, in effect, parent the people who had for so long parented them. It was a hard transition, mitigated at least by flashes of humor and joy. The mix of emotions on everyone’s part could make every day feel like walking through a minefield. Then came redemption.
This memoir charts the passage from the anguish of loss to the understanding that even in the most fractious times, love can heal, transform, and lead to graceful — and grateful — acceptance.
4 comments:
Hi Bonnie! This sounds like a touching memoir.
I know there is Mary Higgins Clark book with the same title!
Hope you will have a good weekend and happy reading!
Elza Reads
This sounds like such a beautiful book that might also be very hard to read. It is one of my biggest fears for this to happen, so I might not be ready for it yet. I hope you have a lovely weekend and do drop by my Friday post if you have the time! - Juli @ A Universe in Words
This sounds like a worthwhile read, Bonnie. My grandmother on my mother's side suffered from vascular dementia and I acted as her caretaker for a short while before she had to be moved to a more supervised environment. It was really tough on our family, seeing our matriarch go through that, as I am sure it is for every family who has a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer's Disease.
I hope you have a great weekend!
My husband's mother, grandmother, and all of his mother's sisters and brothers had Alzheimer's. Now he and his cousins are of an age where it is starting to strike. Three cousins down so far.
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