Love and Little Birds: Wrestling with the Sadness of Dementia

The human brain is desperately fragile in some ways and incredibly powerful in many others. Dementia is the quintessential example of mental fragility, but dealing with dementia can awaken the full power of the brain in those who are obliged to care for its victims. In Love and Little Birds, author John Radway shares the journal of his struggle to cope with the dementia that eventually claimed the life of his wife, Claire, at the age of seventy-five. Divided into two parts, the first section describes Radway's attempts to grasp the meaning of dementia, while the second section includes a very personal chronicle of his tortuous journey through the ruins of his previous life into a new one. In this memoir, Radway seeks to provide guidance to others who are caring for someone struggling to deal with a dying mind-the sad prognosis for this disease. He communicates the emotional toll it takes on the caregivers, who are fully aware of what is happening to their loved one. Love and Little Birds provides raw insight into a caregiver's world and shares the importance of taking care of the self so as not to be destroyed.