"Myrna Marofsky's starkly honest?and beautifully loving?account of caring for her husband through Alzheimer's will no doubt help others walking this challenging path."
?Tia Newcomer, CEO of CaringBridge
A heartfelt memoir of loving someone with dementia. Myrna's story of taking care of a husband with Alzheimer's is a gift to those experiencing the other side of a diagnosis.
When Myrna Marofsky was told her husband had early-stage Alzheimer's, she made a commitment to disregard the "tragedy talk" that typically surrounds this diagnosis. Instead, for five years she found ways to keep bad news from becoming a bad life.
In To the Last Dance, Marofsky speaks to those who are too often forgotten, calling for more care to be given to the caretakers?partners experiencing the emotional heartache of loss while trying not to lose themselves.
This candid memoir is not another to-do list or dementia caregiver's guide. Instead, it is a real-life love story, demonstrating a way of living that:
- redefines caregiving to CARE-LIVING®
- dismisses the "tragedy talk,"
- maintains identity and relationships, and
- demonstrates how love and loss can coexist even in the midst of adversity
Being on the other side of a progressive disease can leave you feeling alone, without a compass, and struggling to maintain a mindset of possibilities. Marofsky introduces two questions you can ask yourself to help find moments?or even years?of meaningful life through dementia:
How do you want to live each day?
How do you want to feel in the end?
"A story of navigating a partner's life with dementia using love, dignity, and respect as guideposts?adapting to all that irrevocably changes, while embracing and celebrating all that endures."
?G. Allen Power, MD, geriatrician and author of Dementia Beyond Disease
