Janet S Gould

Mother's Journey Janet S Gould

Dementia affects families worldwide and it contiues to claim ever more families. These families often have difficult decisions to make about the care of their loved one. It's very important that people with dementia are still treated as an integral part of their family, but often these people are just locked away in a nursing home somewhere, deserted by their families and friends. People with dementia still want to interact with other people, they still want to receive love, and they still want to give love. Life still goes on for the person with dementia; they still have to go through life one day at a time, often surrounded by strangers which often creates an intense loneliness. There is often a desperate need for companionship, compassion, and love.

Mother's Journey: Sally's Story is the journal that the author kept for the last two years of her mother's life with dementia; the journey they took together; and the memories that flooded in of their life together before their journey began. There is a large amount of information on dementia, such as the causes and prevention, by leading experts. The book also shows the struggle families go through when they have a loved one with dementia; not only the struggles the family goes through, but also the struggle that the person with dementia goes through. While Sally may not have been able to recognize anyone she still had the capacity of knowing the dynamics of family. Her sense of humor remained intact and she was still able to interact with her family members and could still express her love with words and actions. Can people with dementia feel love? h es, they feel it and they can give it. And they most definitely need it. Surrounded by loneliness and no memory of the people they knew they definitely need love. While this is mainly Sally's story, it is also the author's story.