the day i found my mother dead
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The Day I Found My Mother Dead after Alzheimer’s Disease

I will never forget the moment I walked in to find my mother had taken her last breath. I stopped in my tracks on the nursing home’s linoleum floor, asking my father, who was right behind me, “Is she dead?” Slowly, I backed away, up against the wall across from her bed, as I stared…

permission to grieve
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Permission to Grieve: What Grieving Well Looks Like by Melinda Mattson

The final installment in this winter’s Permission to Grieve guest post series comes from my beloved friend and For the Love launch team sister Melinda Mattson. She shows us what grieving well actually looks like. Permission to Grieve What grieving well looks like A few months after my mom died, my dear friend asked me…

peace after alzheimer's
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Saying Goodbye to My Mother: Peace After Alzheimer’s Disease

I didn’t know I would say goodbye to my mother eight days after I wrote Keep Me In Your Heart: A Father’s Day Wish. She finally found peace after Alzheimer’s disease. My mother found peace after Alzheimer’s disease The five days leading up to my mother’s death were physically and emotionally trying. I hated watching…

alzheimer's daughter
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How I’m Navigating the Alzheimer’s Grieving Process As I Lose My Mother

In a 2008 television interview with my parents about my mother’s early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis, I told the reporter, “it’s like we’re losing her in slow motion.”  Lately, it seems like I have been surrounded by loss.  Several friends have recently lost parents after long battles with cancer, and, of course, most recently, friends from church…