I Will Walk With You: An Alzheimer's Love Story

"I Will Walk With You - an Alzheimer's Love Story" is an emotionally rich story that offers a raw and honest look at what it's like to care for a parent or loved one with Alzheimer's. It captures both the heartbreak and the strength it takes to face a disease with so few answers and so little support. The book is unflinching, refusing to sugarcoat the experience of dealing with Alzheimers in nostalgia and Hallmark moments. Julie tells about her journey from the heart and with raw honesty. People beginning the journey of a loved one navigating dementia may not want to go there, but they should. This is the true story of what happens.Julie's mother, Susan, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at age 70. After a lifetime of keeping secrets and hiding family mental illness, it takes all the courage she has to hide her illness from her loved ones. As the disease takes its toll, and her life unravels, her daughter has to take over the everyday care of her mother while at the same time running a business and raising a young child. Eventually, care of her ailing father also enters the picture, and Julie is left with more questions than answers and a heart that is breaking apart day by day. Writing becomes her emotional outlet and her knack for touching the deepest and most hidden wounds and bringing them out into the open resonates with friends and strangers alike.As their health declines the story becomes more than just what it means to care for someone with a terminal illness. It becomes a path to healing and moving forward with compassion and love, and letting go of what you thought about life, recognizing that even through the storm clouds of despair we can see rainbows if we look hard enough.