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A Path Revealed: How Hope, Love and Joy Found Us Deep in a Maze Called Alzheimer's
Just days after turning fifty, Martha Maddux, a spirited mother and civic activist, is told she has Alzheimer's disease. She and her husban, Carlen, feel as though they've been shoved out of a plane 10,000 feet up, with nothing to grab but themselves. But A Path Revealed is not about the fallout from an insidious disease that extended nearly seventeen years. It is in Carlen's words, "The story of a path emerging during our darkest hours, a path that we neither planned, nor foresaw."
Carlen traveled with Martha to the backwoods of Kentucky, where the quiet presence of a Catholic nun revealed a hidden path. He was forced to slow down as he traced this path halfway around the world to Australia, retreated weekends to a monastery, embraced meditation, and landed all alone in Thomas Merton's cabin.
A Path Revealed echoes accents heard in Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies, Richard Rohr's Falling Upward, and John Bunyan's 17th-century classic, The Pilgrim's Progress.
Carlen traveled with Martha to the backwoods of Kentucky, where the quiet presence of a Catholic nun revealed a hidden path. He was forced to slow down as he traced this path halfway around the world to Australia, retreated weekends to a monastery, embraced meditation, and landed all alone in Thomas Merton's cabin.
A Path Revealed echoes accents heard in Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies, Richard Rohr's Falling Upward, and John Bunyan's 17th-century classic, The Pilgrim's Progress.
193 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 24, 2016
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617 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
September 28, 2016
Carlen Maddux takes us on a journey through darkness and into light, sharing both his struggles and the rewards he found as he sought to make sense of a life turned upside down. At the age of 50, his wife, Martha Maddux, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s Disease, and life as they knew it was over.
“We were two flies caught in a spider’s web, ready to be picked apart piece by piece,” Carlen says. When there were no medical answers for a disease with no cure, they sought spiritual ones. In “A Path Revealed,” Carlen shares with us his search to know God and to know himself, to let go of resentments and anger and to experience God’s love. His journey took him many places, including Sydney Australia to meet with the late Canon Jim Glennon, who had an international healing ministry, and Kentucky, where he stayed in the little cabin where the late Thomas Merton spent his last years. Carlen reveals both his fears and his joys with honesty and vulnerability.
Martha didn’t get a healing miracle, but in the 16 years from diagnosis to death, she and Carlen found peace holding hands in Christ’s presence. I have known Carlen for many years as a friend and former colleague at the Tampa Bay Times. I admired the way he cared for Martha and often wondered how he found the strength to carry on as Martha lost her ability to communicate and then even to recognize him. Now I know.
“God has given each of us the spiritual resources and framework to face a crisis that seeks to crush us,” he concludes. Although this is not a “how-to” book, I recommend it to anyone seeking a deeper walk with God. We can all learn from Carlen’s story.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
“We were two flies caught in a spider’s web, ready to be picked apart piece by piece,” Carlen says. When there were no medical answers for a disease with no cure, they sought spiritual ones. In “A Path Revealed,” Carlen shares with us his search to know God and to know himself, to let go of resentments and anger and to experience God’s love. His journey took him many places, including Sydney Australia to meet with the late Canon Jim Glennon, who had an international healing ministry, and Kentucky, where he stayed in the little cabin where the late Thomas Merton spent his last years. Carlen reveals both his fears and his joys with honesty and vulnerability.
Martha didn’t get a healing miracle, but in the 16 years from diagnosis to death, she and Carlen found peace holding hands in Christ’s presence. I have known Carlen for many years as a friend and former colleague at the Tampa Bay Times. I admired the way he cared for Martha and often wondered how he found the strength to carry on as Martha lost her ability to communicate and then even to recognize him. Now I know.
“God has given each of us the spiritual resources and framework to face a crisis that seeks to crush us,” he concludes. Although this is not a “how-to” book, I recommend it to anyone seeking a deeper walk with God. We can all learn from Carlen’s story.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 29, 2016
A Path Revealed by Carlen Maddux pulled me in and welcomed me to stay, learn, and reflect on my identity, family, and relationships.
I felt invited and comforted by the author’s willingness to be humble and honest about his feelings, doubts, anger, fears and more—he openly shares entries from a journal he kept. I found myself crying, laughing…relating. Relating even though I haven’t lost a loved one to alzheimer’s disease. Even though I’m not Christian. Even though my life is awesome today.
The author’s journey touched me and though he may not have intended to, he has influenced me by his own actions, and I’ve made the following changes to my life:
1. I start each day with twenty minutes of meditation.
2. I’ve done an inventory of things/events/people that have created stress in my and my partner’s life—past and present—and this awareness has made me more patient with and gentle on both of us.
3. I’m acknowledging my fears: addressing the ones I can do something about and not applying my energy to the ones I can’t fix.
4. I’m acknowledging the capabilities and limitations of people who have harmed my loved ones.
5. I value the time I have with loved ones. I’m texting less and calling more. I’m unplugging from technology to be present in person.
6. And the greatest take away for me is I’m less focused on what I think should happen and more receptive to what will.
I’ve been receiving this author’s newsletter for several months and when he asked if anyone was willing to write a “fair and honest” review of his book in exchange for a free-copy to help future buyers know if the purchase would be right for them, I jumped at the chance. I’m so glad I did!
I felt invited and comforted by the author’s willingness to be humble and honest about his feelings, doubts, anger, fears and more—he openly shares entries from a journal he kept. I found myself crying, laughing…relating. Relating even though I haven’t lost a loved one to alzheimer’s disease. Even though I’m not Christian. Even though my life is awesome today.
The author’s journey touched me and though he may not have intended to, he has influenced me by his own actions, and I’ve made the following changes to my life:
1. I start each day with twenty minutes of meditation.
2. I’ve done an inventory of things/events/people that have created stress in my and my partner’s life—past and present—and this awareness has made me more patient with and gentle on both of us.
3. I’m acknowledging my fears: addressing the ones I can do something about and not applying my energy to the ones I can’t fix.
4. I’m acknowledging the capabilities and limitations of people who have harmed my loved ones.
5. I value the time I have with loved ones. I’m texting less and calling more. I’m unplugging from technology to be present in person.
6. And the greatest take away for me is I’m less focused on what I think should happen and more receptive to what will.
I’ve been receiving this author’s newsletter for several months and when he asked if anyone was willing to write a “fair and honest” review of his book in exchange for a free-copy to help future buyers know if the purchase would be right for them, I jumped at the chance. I’m so glad I did!
September 28, 2016
*The author provided an advanced reading copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review.
An incredibly honest and unvarnished memoir about an everyday couple forced to face a catastrophic diagnosis.
Martha Maddux is only fifty years old when she's diagnosed with Alzheimer's. In A PATH REVEALED, Carlen Maddux recounts the impact this tragic turn of events has on their family. A seventeen-year journey follows in which no aspect of life is untouched. Beyond the changes to daily life, Carlen, Martha and the three kids face emotional and spiritual challenges.
The author tells his story--unintentional single-parenthood, becoming a caretaker to his partner of many years, his continuing effort to find meaning in it all--in a warm, engaging tone. He also takes us past his own perspective and makes space for the other voices involved. Through anecdotes, diary entries, and poems we hear from Martha and from the couple's children. This makes for an amazing reading experience. I read the book in one sitting and got a wonderful sense of the Maddux family as a unit working together to weather a hurricane, and as individual souls each on their own odyssey within the greater landscape of Martha's illness.
A PATH REVEALED is a personal story with universal relevance. We will all face our catastrophe--sometimes more than one, sometimes the same one in different guises. We can't predict them or prevent them. But we can "keep in spiritual shape" and equip ourselves not merely to cope or survive, but to be transformed.
An incredibly honest and unvarnished memoir about an everyday couple forced to face a catastrophic diagnosis.
Martha Maddux is only fifty years old when she's diagnosed with Alzheimer's. In A PATH REVEALED, Carlen Maddux recounts the impact this tragic turn of events has on their family. A seventeen-year journey follows in which no aspect of life is untouched. Beyond the changes to daily life, Carlen, Martha and the three kids face emotional and spiritual challenges.
The author tells his story--unintentional single-parenthood, becoming a caretaker to his partner of many years, his continuing effort to find meaning in it all--in a warm, engaging tone. He also takes us past his own perspective and makes space for the other voices involved. Through anecdotes, diary entries, and poems we hear from Martha and from the couple's children. This makes for an amazing reading experience. I read the book in one sitting and got a wonderful sense of the Maddux family as a unit working together to weather a hurricane, and as individual souls each on their own odyssey within the greater landscape of Martha's illness.
A PATH REVEALED is a personal story with universal relevance. We will all face our catastrophe--sometimes more than one, sometimes the same one in different guises. We can't predict them or prevent them. But we can "keep in spiritual shape" and equip ourselves not merely to cope or survive, but to be transformed.
March 5, 2017
For nearly two decades, I have worried about my friend Carlen Maddux.
Carlen published some of my best work as a journalist for more than 20 years as the man behind the Maddux Business Report, a long-running Tampa Bay area magazine. Through every editor he hired (and fired) and at least two recessions, my byline was a constant on his masthead and I have an armload of awards to prove it.
In 1997, his wife Martha, a beloved political figure here in St. Petersburg, was diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer’s Disease. She was just 50 years old and they had been married for 25 years. Their lives and those of their three children – as well as those of his employees – were never the same.
Let me put this in a little context: Martha—and her family—inexplicably lived with Alzheimer’s for the next 17 years. It was a hard, unrelenting, soul-sapping existence that no one should have to endure, whether as a victim or helpless family member or friend.
In the pages of his first book, A Path Revealed: How Hope, Love, and Joy Found Us Deep in a Maze Called Alzheimer’s, Carlen takes readers with him on globe-spanning religious journey to make peace with having his beloved partner ripped from his embrace way, way too soon.
Carlen published some of my best work as a journalist for more than 20 years as the man behind the Maddux Business Report, a long-running Tampa Bay area magazine. Through every editor he hired (and fired) and at least two recessions, my byline was a constant on his masthead and I have an armload of awards to prove it.
In 1997, his wife Martha, a beloved political figure here in St. Petersburg, was diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer’s Disease. She was just 50 years old and they had been married for 25 years. Their lives and those of their three children – as well as those of his employees – were never the same.
Let me put this in a little context: Martha—and her family—inexplicably lived with Alzheimer’s for the next 17 years. It was a hard, unrelenting, soul-sapping existence that no one should have to endure, whether as a victim or helpless family member or friend.
In the pages of his first book, A Path Revealed: How Hope, Love, and Joy Found Us Deep in a Maze Called Alzheimer’s, Carlen takes readers with him on globe-spanning religious journey to make peace with having his beloved partner ripped from his embrace way, way too soon.
May 31, 2017
A beautifully written memoir on one mans journey watching his wife being diagnosed and then suffer from Alzheimer's. I was profoundly touched by their unshakable faith and love for each other. My rating is complicated, because I never finished the book. When I started looking at books on Alzheimer's/dementia this was not what I was looking for. I am a LPN in Minnesota. I am looking more for a book to help me education my staff on dealing with their own negative attitudes and feelings. It is so easy to get sucked into negativity with any disease. But frustrations with patients are greater and harder to let go of. I'm looking for a way to guide them. I got about halfway through the book before stopping because it was so beautifully written. It was easy to see the love and the fight he put into helping his wife. I could barely put it down. So if your looking for a book on someone's journey this is very well written. The author and his wife were both religious and deeply spiritual people. Carlen Maddux takes you through his journey and milestone and how his faith helped him.
September 1, 2018
Heart Mending
The road Carlen Maddux was given to travel was, like most of ours, filled with unexpected hardships. His book is a clearly written explanation of the handholds he was able to use make the path survivable. This book is a testament to his ability to focus on God not on the problem. While most of us are not able to make spontaneous trips to Australia, we can try to apply the insights he gleaned there. Maddux explains his journey is unique from ours and that we will have to work hard to apply what he offers and we acquire on our own to make the journey bearable.
The road Carlen Maddux was given to travel was, like most of ours, filled with unexpected hardships. His book is a clearly written explanation of the handholds he was able to use make the path survivable. This book is a testament to his ability to focus on God not on the problem. While most of us are not able to make spontaneous trips to Australia, we can try to apply the insights he gleaned there. Maddux explains his journey is unique from ours and that we will have to work hard to apply what he offers and we acquire on our own to make the journey bearable.
July 9, 2017
An amazing story of unselfish love
This book reveals the pain and lose that a family goes through when dealing with Alzheimer's but it is way more than that. Carlen finds himself while on the journey to making peace with his wife's disease. We all suffer pain and lose in our lives and until we find peace within ourselves our suffering is for not and we will not able to help others. This book helped me finds ways to work on my own life journey to find greater hope, love and joy.
This book reveals the pain and lose that a family goes through when dealing with Alzheimer's but it is way more than that. Carlen finds himself while on the journey to making peace with his wife's disease. We all suffer pain and lose in our lives and until we find peace within ourselves our suffering is for not and we will not able to help others. This book helped me finds ways to work on my own life journey to find greater hope, love and joy.
July 10, 2018
I was very impressed with the way Mr Maddux walked with his wife, along with their young adult children, down the Alzheimer path. The guidance he received from so many sources leading him to seek spiritual healing, was very inspiring. The teaching from Elder Glennon linking resentment and forgiveness to stress-causing illness was a novel, yet logical connection.
This book motivates me to draw closer to God and receive all that he has for me.
This book motivates me to draw closer to God and receive all that he has for me.
July 6, 2017
Inspiring read
I appreciated Carlen's transparency in sharing the story of his family's journey through Alzheimer's disease. His spiritual growth through this chapter of life is insightful and testifies to God's presence with us always. Anyone with any crisis can apply the same strategies and grow in Grace.
I appreciated Carlen's transparency in sharing the story of his family's journey through Alzheimer's disease. His spiritual growth through this chapter of life is insightful and testifies to God's presence with us always. Anyone with any crisis can apply the same strategies and grow in Grace.
July 30, 2017
Soul-consuming
We are each on a path. The author shares his path of healing. No, his beloved wife was not healed of Alzheimer's, but their spirits became open to greater intimacy with God. Beautifully written and powerful, this story reminds me that suffering is not meaningless but draws us to a greater intimacy with God.
We are each on a path. The author shares his path of healing. No, his beloved wife was not healed of Alzheimer's, but their spirits became open to greater intimacy with God. Beautifully written and powerful, this story reminds me that suffering is not meaningless but draws us to a greater intimacy with God.
August 7, 2018
I loved this book. But found some of it hard to understand. I am not very good at understanding all of what I read, but I have a good fear of the disease.
All in all it was a good read. Must read again.
I will read again soon. I also think that your review requires too much explanation.
All in all it was a good read. Must read again.
I will read again soon. I also think that your review requires too much explanation.
March 15, 2025
A huge thank you Carlen for sharing this path with all of us. My sister-in-law passed away last year with this disease and now I know what my brother went through as they walked this heavy road. Our family is spread out across Canada and he did not have family beside him to help out. Having a huge support system is so crucial during this time so that rest comes to the caregiver.
July 12, 2017
A must read!!! A book more about the caregiver and his spiritual journey, which could pertain to anyone going through challenging circumstances. A poignant memoir about learning to know and trust God!!!
July 17, 2017
I thought this was very interesting and helpful. The steps you learned will be very useful in time when I will need them. I would tell other people about it.
I am sorry I am not sure how to write what you want to know or how to rate it. I did learn from what I read.
I am sorry I am not sure how to write what you want to know or how to rate it. I did learn from what I read.
October 1, 2017
Very helpful
Although there was a lot of information, it was written in such a way that it was very readable. I appreciate the way he sought help from many sources, but not everyone will have financial or job freedom to explore the way he did.
Although there was a lot of information, it was written in such a way that it was very readable. I appreciate the way he sought help from many sources, but not everyone will have financial or job freedom to explore the way he did.
July 15, 2018
Mind opening read
This is a wonderful mind opening book. I thoroughly enjoyed the story as it unfolded the lives of this family after the diagnosis of Martha. Food for thought and action.
This is a wonderful mind opening book. I thoroughly enjoyed the story as it unfolded the lives of this family after the diagnosis of Martha. Food for thought and action.
August 2, 2018
Thank you for sharing your journey
The tale of this journey speaks to the heart; it doesn't matter which particular path your journey takes you. Mr. Marcus shares his struggles and triumphs on his unexpected journey, all the while encouraging a real, genuine quest of faith.
The tale of this journey speaks to the heart; it doesn't matter which particular path your journey takes you. Mr. Marcus shares his struggles and triumphs on his unexpected journey, all the while encouraging a real, genuine quest of faith.
August 11, 2018
Thanks
Thanks for being honest in your search. It opened my eyes to a new understanding of Alzheimer and how to deal with it. Our personal relationship to God must be central and you found that. Thanks for your insights into such a complex matter.
Thanks for being honest in your search. It opened my eyes to a new understanding of Alzheimer and how to deal with it. Our personal relationship to God must be central and you found that. Thanks for your insights into such a complex matter.
October 8, 2018
A thought provoking read
This book had me turning the pages non stop. The journey described here is familiar yet new to me. I have enjoyed reading this but more than that I have been taught a new lesson of faith.
This book had me turning the pages non stop. The journey described here is familiar yet new to me. I have enjoyed reading this but more than that I have been taught a new lesson of faith.
February 28, 2020
Story of faith and love
In an impossibly difficult situation this man husband and father loves and support. His wife.. his story of faith, discipleship is encouraging and thought provoking
In an impossibly difficult situation this man husband and father loves and support. His wife.. his story of faith, discipleship is encouraging and thought provoking
August 1, 2021
Excellent Novel
Carmen Maddux has written a book involving healing with the understanding of each person's individual trails with the he!p of many Godly paths of Hope, Love and Joy.
Carmen Maddux has written a book involving healing with the understanding of each person's individual trails with the he!p of many Godly paths of Hope, Love and Joy.
July 6, 2017
This book focused on the author's spiritual journey starting with his wife's diagnosis of Alzheimer's at the age of 50. It is a must read for those who are dealing with anyone with dementia.
July 21, 2017
While this book is about the effects of Alzheimer's on a couple, I recommend it for anyone dealing with a life changing situation. The focus is not on the disease but rather on the spiritual growth, hard won, that can come with an unwanted medical diagnosis. I highly recommend this book.
August 27, 2017
V
V gut hut nice but I can't yep this out into lines miss my gram who had this awful disease
V gut hut nice but I can't yep this out into lines miss my gram who had this awful disease
August 30, 2017
Kindle
November 14, 2017
My grandmother had Alzheimer's. I remember going to visit and sometimes she knew me and sometimes I was my mom (her daughter).
My mom was her caregiver. It hurt her when she was not known.
My mom was her caregiver. It hurt her when she was not known.
March 16, 2018
Inspirational and moving. Thank you for sharing your journey!
July 3, 2018
Remarkable
This book is remarkable not only as a help understanding aspects of the horrible disease but also help increasing our faith in our Lord Jesus
This book is remarkable not only as a help understanding aspects of the horrible disease but also help increasing our faith in our Lord Jesus
July 25, 2018
I will this again. Many useful insights.
This book made me think and want to learn more and grow spiritually. They're story applies to any difficult thing you may be facing in life.
This book made me think and want to learn more and grow spiritually. They're story applies to any difficult thing you may be facing in life.
March 15, 2017
This book is filled with hard-earned wisdom, thoughtful writing, and the heartfelt pain of a Alzheimer's diagnosis. Having to learn how live with it and help your loved ones deal with this horrid disease is monumental. This book offers help for others in this situation and gives hope. Good book and I definitely recommend.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews