Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words:
Travels with Mom in the Land of Dementia, by Kate Whouley
Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words is a cry, then laugh, then cry again memoir. Stock up on tissues!
My heart goes out to the author, Kate Whouley, who tells the story of taking care of her mother with dementia against mind-boggling odds.
It's not always “fun,” as in the Rescue Me TV episode when the chief's wife develops Alzheimer's and throws a disco party for her gay son, despite her husband’s homophobia. The reality is unlike anything seen on TV. At one point, Whouley's mother has stopped bathing, and the author has to go through elaborate manipulations just to give her a sponge bath. Anyone’s who’s been there knows what it’s like to be brought to your knees.
Kate is at peace with what eventually happened—but her journey to get there is a tremendous insight into anyone dealing with end-of-life family care.
—Aretha Bright