
Laughing to Keep From Crying, This Alzheimer's Thing is No Joke: A Caregiver's Journey
Alzheimer's What is that? That was the question I asked myself when I started my caregiver's journey. My mother was a very healthy woman; no other illnesses. I could not believe or understand how my mother contracted such a disease like this. Laughing to Keep From Crying, This Alzheimer's Thing is No Joke delves into what my family, my mother and I went through as we struggled with how to care for my mother who had Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's became my enemy and my roller coaster ride was about to begin. I witnessed the deterioration of my mother's laughter, love and ultimately her life. I experienced the sadness of the new reality that my mother was not the woman I knew while growing up into adulthood. I had to come to the realization that the angst, physical and emotional setbacks I endured while taking care of her was unavoidable. I learned to muster up enough strength to support my mother not only physically and emotionally but also while trying to maintain my own family and my sanit