Review
There are memoirs that inspire and there are memoirs that are inspired. Gillies's exceptional, award-winning account of caring for her ailing mother-in-law fits squarely into both categories. It is said, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." This is usually quoted in reference to a soldier putting himself or herself at risk so that another may live. What of a woman who sets aside her own life (and career) so that her mother-in-law with Alzheimer's disease might have the kind of loving care only a family member can provide?
That is precisely what Gillies does. What's more, the elder woman's physically impaired husband comes along as part of the bargain. As if the care of her in-laws and her own three children were not enough, professional journalist Gillies - whose sanity one might legitimately question at this point –...
Beyond the Book
The World Alzheimer Report estimates that there are upwards of 35 million people living with dementia worldwide, two-thirds of whom are women, with Alzheimer's accounting for about two-thirds of cases. By 2050 it is expected that 115 million people will be living with dementia.
In the United States there are approximately 5.3 million people who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. One person is diagnosed every 70 seconds. By the year 2050 it is expected that this rate will accelerate to one person every 33 seconds. In the UK Alzheimer's effects about 500,000 people. Evidence of Alzheimer's can be observed up to twenty years before serious mental breakdown occurs. Once diagnosed a person's average life expectancy is eight years, at least half of which is often...
