To the Last Dance: A Partner's Story of Living and Loving through Dementia

"Myrna Marofsky's starkly honest-and beautifully loving-account of caring for her husband through Alzheimer's will no doubt help others walking this challenging path." -Tia Newcomer, CEO of CaringBridge A heartfelt memoir of loving someone with dementia. Myrna's story of taking care of a husband with Alzheimer's is a gift to those experiencing the other side of a diagnosis. When Myrna Marofsky was told her husband had early-stage Alzheimer's, she made a commitment to disregard the "tragedy talk" that typically surrounds this diagnosis. Instead, for five years she found ways to keep bad news from becoming a bad life. In To the Last Dance, Myrna speaks to those who are too often forgotten, calling for more care to be given to the caretakers-partners experiencing the emotional heartache of loss while trying not to lose themselves. This candid memoir is not another to-do list or dementia caregiver's guide. Instead, it is a real-life love story, demonstrating a way of living that:

• redefines caregiving,
• dismisses the "tragedy talk,"
• maintains identity and relationships, and
• finds possibilities and hope in the mist of adversity. Being on the other side of a progressive disease can leave you feeling alone, without a compass, and struggling to maintain a mindset of possibilities. Myrna introduces two questions you can ask yourself to help find moments-or even years-of meaningful life through dementia: How do you want to live each day? How do you want to feel in the end? "A story of navigating a partner's life with dementia using love, dignity, and respect as guideposts-adapting to all that irrevocably changes, while embracing and celebrating all that endures." -G. Allen Power, MD, geriatrician and author of Dementia Beyond Disease