In this memoir, Minnesota playwright, poet and environmentalist Nancy Paddock gives a poignant account of one of life's cruelest fates. Detailing her experiences in guiding her parents through Alzheimer's disease, Paddock's story is at once a heartbreaking tribute and a tender love story. Through letters, old photographs and reminiscences, the author recounts her parents' 60-year romance and her own efforts to provide the best possible care for them as they become lost to the debilitating disease.
Paddock and her two sisters find themselves in conflict with an over-extended health-care system that focuses on efficiency and practicality to the detriment of a patient's dignity and independence. They are likewise forced to juggle the responsibilities of work and home life with their parents' ever-increasing vulnerability. Perhaps most affecting are the descriptions of Ralph and Lois Pearson struggling with what should come naturally--everyday decisions or behaviors that suddenly become treacherous and confusing. Through their daughter's eyes we see them grasping to find a reality and an identity that they can trust. In Paddock's telling there is evidence of a struggle that is all the more urgent because it is futile. But the story is not without hope. Though Ralph and Lois eventually succumb to age and illness, in her memories of them Paddock reminds us of the precious and ephemeral joy to be found in simply living one's life. --Judie Evans, librarian