Alzheimer's, a Love Story: One Year in My Husband's Journey

by Ann Davidson

The wife of a Stanford University Medical School professor offers a series of vignettes capturing the struggles of her husband to live and cope with the debilitating onset of Alzheimer's

Genres: Memoir, Health

223 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an Alzheimer’s widow, I found this book both painful to read and familiar. Davidson tells the story of one year in which her husband Julian’s Alzheimer’s has begun to seriously disrupt his life. It’s the year he stops driving and stops working, the year in which occasional gaps in speaking turn to almost incomprehensible gibberish. He was a brilliant man, a renowned professor at Stanford University, but now he is losing everything, and he knows it. Ann knows she is losing him. Like me, she struggles to retain some of her own life while caring for her husband. She weeps over what they have lost and fears what is to come. And yet she does her best to help Julian enjoy every possible moment. This is a beautifully written book, which was followed by another, A Curious Kind of Widow, which I read and loved previously.

[Doc Opp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the memoir of an Alzheimer's caretaker. This is not an easy book to read. It chronicles the mental decline of the author's husband, and the challenges that come with that. Its not the sort of book that I would recommend for anybody. But for somebody with a loved one in the early stages of Alzheimer's, this will give you an idea of what to expect, and bring comfort through a shared experience.

[Phyllis Cole-Dai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illuminating read on a couple's struggle with the husband's decline with Alzheimer's, offered in 56 vignettes written by the wife (also a poet). The author Ann Davidson is informed by mindfulness practice, which gives her work a special slant. A good read. (Note: I was reading this book as research, with narrow focus on short-term memory loss; background for a novel-in-progress.)

[Edie Asbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best part of this book was the authentic nonsensical dialogues the author had with her once highly accomplished and respected husband now afflicted with Alzheimer disease. The frustrations with communication and love they share is remarkable as they come to accept this phase of their lives together.

[Margaret Mechinus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting down this road. Made me grateful for where we are, not so advanced as this.

[Riya Oc · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one really got to me because I've read papers written by Dr. Julian Davidson and they were brilliant.

[Ro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found the year of Julian's deterioration due to Alzheimer's to be realistic and heart breaking. Ann's sometimes loss of patience, especially in the beginning of the book when Julian looks "whole", was also realistic. Barry Peterson put it, it's like grieving and you are going to the same funeral over and over and over. This brilliant man, researcher, scientist, academic writer, can't remember the rules of Candy Land, the names of nearly anyone, how to make coffee or put on his clothes. Most of all, as he loses his abilities, Ann is not only caretaking and taking over all responsibilities of their lives, but she is also mourning the loss of her best friend while he is still here. The conversations, the memories, the things they had planned for the future.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written account by the wife of a man diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She writes openly about her experiences: moments of anger and impatience, as well as the tender moments. Definitely worth reading.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the way she chose to deal with a difficult situation with love -- and her honesty about how difficult that was! Having just been faced with having a husband with a life-threatening illness, I could relate to her fears.

[Hollis Fishelson-holstine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent account of living with someone who has early-onset alzheimer's. It truly expresses the pain and frustration (and a way through with love!) of both the victim and the caregiver

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

No eternal hope.