I couldn't put the book down

Still Alice - by Lisa Genova

 

I was told by a few people that I should read this book Still Alice by Lisa Genova, since I am in the field of promoting planning for the unexpected.  This book I must say was a very easy read, I borrowed it from my girlfriend on Friday and had it read by Sunday.  Lisa did a great job of bringing the reader into the world of a person suffering from Alzheimer's.  Most books are from the caregivers perspective.  This book was written in simple easy to read terms that allowed you to understand both sides, the person with the disease and how it affects the family, friends and colleagues.  

Being on the other side of the disease, a caregiver and family member affected by the disease it allowed me to understand what my father in law must be going through. 

Even though we feel we have lost him, this book confirmed that he is not really gone his mind just thinks differently.  He still requires the love, and affection that we all thrive for.  He is very much like the children with special needs that I worked with before I was in the insurance business.  They too thrive on love and affection and want to be treated just the same as you or I.  The author also did a great job of explaining how society treats mental illness compared to an illness such as cancer. 

As a society we often shy away from change or difference.  What we need to do is read more books like this one so we can better understand dementia.  Especially since our world is changing and in the next 10 to 20 years we will see more and more of our loved ones and maybe even ourselves going through different forms of dementia.  I hope the reports are wrong from the Alzheimer society's Rising Tide, but I know just from all my research that unfortunately they are probably not far off. 

So what can we do?  Well, we can prepare for the unexpected, and hope that it never happens, just like my tag line says "I hope you waste your money."   We can learn to love each other every day and cherish our time with family, friends and loved ones.  We can work towards our dreams, and live life to the fullest.  Positive thinking, leads to positive living so that when the unexpected does happen we know it is not the end of the world it is just a change.  So cherish what you have, be proud of what you have accomplished, and remember that life is to be lived no matter what obstacles come our way.