Put That Knife Away: Alzheimers, Marriage and My Transformation from Wife to Caregiver

Married at mid-life, the author lovingly describes a life of favorite pursuits, friends, music, theater, fine dining and foreign travel. Until disaster hits. Not only does Bob forget, his personality disintegrates, he becomes demanding, argumentative and paranoid. The author, a practicing psychologist, fights with her own denial, struggles to find a diagnosis and modifies their lifestyle to cope with her husband’s drastic outbursts until she learns to fear for her own safety. Initially, when her husband complains, she believes he is shifting his focus from country life to city life. When he insists he's not “getting” a movie or a television show, she assumes a hearing problem. Fearful of losing this wonderful husband, she is unable to recognize that his brain is deteriorating. Until she can deny it no longer. He has Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, which you will discover as you travel with them on this poignantly told cross- country journey detailing the torment of this disease.