Three Corners Has My Cat: Caregiving in Alzheimer's Time

Listen to the sweet, faltering sounds of a Pachelbel canon that Priscilla painstakingly plays on the old parlor organ, one slow note at a time. Or the occasional melody that falls from her lips: “My cat, it has three corners. Three corners has my cat . . .” Smell the “light gray clay” she tromps in from dumping the kitty litter. Watch her zip down the wooded driveway with a load of brush in her golf cart. Experience her surprise as she tastes picante sauce on her toast. Feel the 24-hour sting of Washington nettle that she tries to rinse away with hot water. Three Corners Has My Cat: Caregiving in Alzheimer’s Time, a collection of vignettes written from 2008 to 2013, offers a glimpse into daily life with Alzheimer’s Disease. The setting is unique: twenty acres of forested property on Whidbey Island with two separate houses, a 4,000 square foot shop, caging areas for five cougars and two bobcats, and a raised bed garden surrounded by deer fencing. The on-site characters are three members of the Lussmyer family: Priscilla, former physical education teacher and proud graduate of Oberlin College (B.A., 1948) and Northwestern University (M.A., 1952); John, software engineer, confirmed bachelor, and owner of exotic animals; and Janis, college English instructor retired early to become in-home caregiver and chronicler of life in the woods.