Alex Witchel

In this day and age, when anyone and everyone and her sister writes blogs and self publishes books, and everyone thinks she can write well.... it is refreshing to read a book by a *writer*... who can actually write with talent! Witchel writes about her mother with such tenderness and wit and clarity, that it didn't matter that there were no black and white photos of her Mom in the book. You get the picture perfectly. I feel like I know her mother. And if that weren't enough, Witchel includes recipes in her book! Ones her mother used. And what's so funny and touching is that they aren't home made natural all-from-scratch ones as you'd expect. No, her mom used Lawry's seasoning. And canned peas... and other processed stuff I wouldn't use! :-) But it's clear how Witchell loves her mom, loves the recipes she grew up with, and loves how the dishes turned out. They mean home to her and she finds great comfort in them, especially now that her mother has dementia.

Witchell's writing reminds me a lot of Jeannette Wall's. If you haven't read The Glass Castle and you like memoirs, you should read that one too.… (more)

As a person who has a grandmother diagnosed with profound dementia and senile paranoia, I am constantly looking for information about elder care. It is both a comfort and upsetting to know that there are many others that struggle with this nightmare called dementia. Like the author, my grandmother’s dementia originated from several strokes, which caused permanent brain damage. This book is about the author’s struggle to accept her mother’s spiral decline into the world of memory loss and confusion. It is both a memoir of her life and her mother’s life. The author writes about her mother’s early signs of dementia and how she failed to accept her symptoms, but soon chose to embrace them head on to seek treatment.

This book was both a struggle and a challenge for me to read. In one aspect I can understand the emotional turmoil that the author felt when accepting the changes her mother went through. On the other hand, I found the book had very little to do with dementia and mostly focused on the author’s life. There was interesting historical information about her mother, which allowed us to see her mother as a child. However, it did not really do anything for me when it came to applying it too dementia. I have been struggling with profound dementia for 3 years with my grandmother. She has the kind that has turned combative and has required us to place her in a protective care environment. Upon reading this book I honestly believe that the author’s mother had the early stages of the disease when the book was written. I did not see any real episodes of dementia and those that were discussed were mild. I would consider this book to be more of a memoir about the author’s relationship with her mother. I just did not see enough information on dementia to justify the heading of the book. I believe the title needs to be changed. Either way, the author is still a talented writer and her book was very interesting. I wish her much luck in the future with both her sister and her mother!… (more)