Linda Brendle

Mom's Long Goodbye Linda Brendle

"Mom's goodbye began with a red photo album and ended fifteen years later in a hospital bed in the Alzheimer's wing of Southridge Village. This is her story and mine."Linda Brendle's first memoir, A Long and Winding Road, told of the chaos that happens when four people, two of whom have Alzheimer's, spend fifty-three days in a forty-foot motor home. It also told of the years and the life experiences that brought these four people together. After finishing it, many readers asked what happened next. Mom's Long Goodbye is the rest of the story. Based on blog posts written as the events happened, this memoir takes the reader through grieving a continuous loss, some of the initial changes Alzheimer's causes, the transition from caregiving to assisted living, Dad's death, Mom's last year, and the grief and closure of her final goodbye. Mom's Long Goodbye strips away the façade of being the perfect caregiver and gives the reader a look at the denial, the anger, and the fear that come as a loved one loses herself a piece at a time to an insidious disease. Through sharing her own struggles, Brendle tries to assure other caregivers that they are not alone, that perfection is not required, and that comfort is real.