Elizabeth Bryson, Anna Chaplain in Downham Market shares a book recommendation.
I encourage and recommend that Anna Chaplains, Anna Friends, those involved with care home ministry and those meeting in the community with people living with dementia should read this wonderful book – Memorable Loss by Karen Martin, published in 2023 by Christian Focus Publications Ltd.
This moving book would be helpful for anyone with a friend or family member living with dementia and anyone helping at a Dementia Café.
Karen writes about the stages of the development of Alzheimer’s in her friend Kathleen who eventually moved from her bungalow to ‘Bluebell House’. This moving book Memorable Loss was recommended to me by my friend Shirley who was Kathleen’s ‘care home nurse’ (p. 160) at ‘Bluebell House’ and her ‘key nurse’ (p. 167) who spoke reassuring words of wisdom to Karen (pp. 197-99).
Karen writes from her position as Kathleen’s friend and includes medical information and details from her later reading and research. This book about friendship reflects on the importance memory, looking at photographs, retelling stories from the past and emphasises that the personality and Christian faith of the person living with dementia remains along with their awareness of being loved. Karen writes emotionally about how she was able to ‘adapt to the constantly changing present’ (p. 204).
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