The Stages of Grace Blog Tour: Review and Guest Post
Title: The Stages of Grace- Life and love in the Face of Alzheimer’s
Author: Connie Ruben & Kate O’Neill
Date Published: August 18th, 2014
Pages: 149
Genre: Memoir, Non-Fiction, Alzheimer’s
Synopsis
This book was written out of a desire to share with others who have loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease what I have experience as Grace’ caregiver and friend. I wanted to capture the emotions, the expected and the unexpected issues, the painful times as well as the humorous and loving moments that Grace and I have shared as a result of this disease. This is not mean to be a handbook for dealing with Alzheimer’s disease, but I hope that by sharing my feelings and experiences, readers may recognize they are not alone on this particular journey.
Buy the book:
Amazon | Amazon.ca | Barnes & Noble
My Review
First, let me start off by saying that my Grandfather had Alzheimer’s so this book was very near and dear to my heart. It was easy to relate, Even if you have never had a family member, or known someone who has/had Alzheimer’s this is a memoir that is written well and will hold your interest. Every page kept my interest. It was never tedious or boring.
This story will help those who don’t know of the disease Alzheimer’s learn more about it and when it effect it has on a person and others. Those who do know someone with Alzheimer’s will take comfort in reading this. It will let them know that they are not alone and that others are going through the same or similiar situations. I even learned a few things that I didn’t know about the disease.
This story will have you laughing at moments, it will break your heart at others, and warm your heart at moments as well. It is a story of love, family, overcoming obstacles, and a story of selflessness. It was interesting on every page and I didn’t want to stop reading it. I enjoyed the way the chapters were broken down. It was like reading seperate little stories. I could sit down and enjoy a chapter at a time and feel like I made progress on reading the book. Even though the chapters were a little lengthy, they held my interest and read so fast that they didn’t seem long at all.
Anyone who loves memoirs, is a care giver for someone, or has a family member or friend with an illness or disease will enjoy reading this story.
Guest Post with Author Connie Ruben
I AM IN CONTROL OF THIS! by Connie Ruben
Ha! When Grace was first diagnosed, I did what I always do and went into my “professional mode” and realized this was just another thing which had to be dealt with. One example was when we would take Grace out to dinner, or have friends over to our house, I felt it was my duty to go around the room ensuring everyone knew she had Alzheimer’s so they knew not to believe most of what she said as the stories could be very exaggerated if not just outright lies… It became exhausting and before long I just stood back and watched the look of shock on people’s faces as they were chatting with her. I would smile and know she had just told a wallop of a story that no doubt included some not-so-lady-like language. It took me a while to really appreciate this was not something I could control and I had to just let Grace be the person she needed to be and trust the people around me to be able to handle it. Wow, was this tough!