Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living with Alzheimer's & Other Dementias Review & Giveaway

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As most of you know, I am part of the Chicken Soup for the Soul network. So, I get to pick and review any of the new books that come out. I am sure that almost everyone knows about the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. However, for those that don’t, Chicken Soup for the Soul books are collections of short stories sent in by real people about their own lives and experiences, or sometimes about the lives and experiences of close friends or relatives. These books are always at the top of the best sellers list.


Chicken Soup for the Soul:  Living with Alzheimer's & Other Dementias: 101 Stories of Caregiving, Coping, and Compassion by Amy Newmark, and Angela Timashenka Geiger of the Alzheimer's Association have done a wonderful job of sharing great stories of dealing with the difficulties and touching moments of Allzheimer's and dementia.

I have to admit that I've been putting this one off.  We recently lost my great aunt.  She had dementia.  The last time I saw her alive, my mom, daughter, and I were visiting our family in Tulsa.  She was in a nursing home.  I was shocked by how much she had changed.  She didn't know any of us, well, not really.  She thought my mother was her sister (my grandmother) and that I was my mom.  She kept asking if my mom remembered events from when she was a teenager.  We learned a lot about events from when they were growing up.  However, we still had a difficult time realizing that she was, in essence, lost to us.  She passed away about a month later.  I think, we've all been dealing with the loss but also with the guilt of not visiting more and helping our cousins out more.

The first story I read was "Still My Grammy".  It had me in tears, partly because I lost my grandmother and still miss her and for all the grandchildren out there who are losing a grandparent to Alzheimer's or another form of dementia.  Many children are now helping to take care of a grandparent like the young woman in this story.  I love that she still remembers the great times she had with her grandmother before she got sick, and that she will always think of her grandmother as her "Grammy".

There are so many great stories in this book, too.  There are stories for everyone.  I'm sure you will find something to like.  I love that I can kip around and find the story or stories that interest me at that moment.

I loved this story and so many others in this book.  It is a great book that you will love.  I'm sure you will end up sharing the stories in this book with your friends and family.  There are so many good stories that you will have a hard time finding a favorite.  Here are the chapters you can choose from:


  1. Accepting a New Reality
  2. What Does It Feel Like?
  3. Strategies and Tips for Coping
  4. Next Steps and Tough Choices
  5. Taking the Journey with Your Parents
  6. Younger-Onset Alzheimer's
  7. In Sickness and In Health
  8. The Lighter Side
  9. New Ways to Make Connections
  10. It Takes a Village
  11. The Special Bond with Grandchildren

One of the things people, especially children, like about Chicken Soup for the Soul books is that you do not have to read this from cover to cover. You can skip around from story to story reading the ones that pique your interest. This makes it the perfect book for those that are not big readers.

I highly recommend this book, Chicken Soup for the Soul:  Living with Alzheimer's & Other Dementias: 101 Stories of Caregiving, Coping, and Compassion. This book, like all Chicken Soup for the Soul books make great gifts, especially for those hard to buy for people.

If you are not ready to purchase a copy, or you would like another copy for someone else, you can try to win one. Check out my giveaway below where I am giving away 3 copies of Chicken Soup for the Soul:  Living with Alzheimer's & Other Dementias: 101 Stories of Caregiving, Coping, and Compassion.

It is super easy to enter the giveaway.  Just use the Rafflecopter form below for your chance to win. You even have 5 daily entries available.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Image Credit: Amazon

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