“This poignant memoir perfectly captures the emotional and logistical roller coaster of caring for an adult parent with Alzheimer’s disease, how it impacts everything from work to sibling relationships, and the systematic societal gap between the care a person with Alzheimer’s needs and the available resources.”
—Quinn Kennedy, Phd, Dipaclm,
Director Of Aging Research, Neurofit
Why I Wrote This Book
Today, more than 7 million Americans aged 65 and older live with Alzheimer’s, and the global total is approaching 40 million—every person with dementia will need someone who cares.
Behind these numbers, families struggle to navigate the long, uncertain journey of caregiving.
I know this firsthand: I spent ten years as a family caregiver, a role I never planned to take on.
I wrote The Heart of Caring in the Age of Forgetting to share what I wish I had known from the beginning: not only what dementia takes from us, but also how to transform its inevitable suffering into resilience.
As a seasoned physician assistant, I knew disease management and how our healthcare system should work.
But I didn’t see Alzheimer’s coming.
As my mother’s dementia progressed, it became clear that medical knowledge wasn’t enough and our healthcare system was insufficient.
Our family needed more help than I could provide on my own.
Gradually, I realized that caregiving involves more than just knowledge. Caring evolves from compassionate presence, curiosity and awareness, resilience, and continuous engagement—qualities caregivers may not possess, but every caregiver can cultivate.
If you are a caregiver, I hope this book helps you meet what lies ahead. I hope it helps healthcare professionals better support families and helps families support their caregivers.
May The Heart of Caring reminds us all that as memory declines, relationship and human connection endure.