end of Alzheimer's disease
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My Mother Needed Us to Love Her until the End of Alzheimer’s Disease

My mother needed us to love her until the end of Alzheimer’s disease. My grandmother took this photo of my mother, my husband, and me over a decade ago. It was Thanksgiving Day, six months after my mother’s initial diagnosis with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. And it was seven years before the end of Alzheimer’s…

death of a loved one
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The Expected Death of a Loved One Still Hurts Terribly

The expected death of a loved one still hurts terribly. My mother lived with early onset Alzheimer’s disease for over a decade. She lived in a nursing home with advanced dementia for almost five years. And she lived on hospice care for two years. I prepared for her death for years. I was relieved, of…

marriage before alzheimer's mom wedding
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How I’m Remembering My Parents’ Imperfect Marriage Before Alzheimer’s Now

Today would’ve been my parents’ 45th wedding anniversary. It is difficult to write about my parents’ marriage before Alzheimer’s when my mother has been dead for 9 years and my father has remarried twice since then. My parents had an Aggie romance. They met at Texas A&M through a mutual friend. Their first date was…

early onset alzheimer's
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5 Things My Mother’s Early Onset Alzheimer’s Taught Me about Motherhood

Before I had babies, the last diaper I changed was my mother’s. She entered hospice care when I was pregnant with my first daughter and passed away, almost two years later, when I was pregnant with my second daughter. Despite the grief and struggle, taking care of my mom as her health declined through early onset Alzheimer’s disease prepared…

children's books about alzheimer's
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10 Best Children’s Books about Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia

Are you searching for children’s books about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia to read with your kids? You’re in the right place. I’ll never forget my first exposure to Alzheimer’s disease. I was nine. Unbeknownst to me, an elderly woman with dementia picked up my book. She then took it to her room during my Girl…