The Circle - A Walk with Dementia

I read about this little book in Kathleen Parker's column and ordered it. I am 78 years old and thought maybe I should see what this was all about. I loved it and it brought back many memories in regards to my own Mother.I to have many things I have saved and some time I think I should get rid of some of it but these are the precious memories that children remember when they look through this things when a parent dies. I am going to give this little book to my daughter to read. This was a remarkable family and the way they took care of their mother at the end was so sweet and tender and I kept thinking what remarkable children this Mother & Father have raised. I am sure they were so proud. I read this book in one evening with a few tears here and there. Memories are something we all wish would last forever but as you get older sometime they fad and we need little reminders. Just fill your life with love and that can never be taken away even if your memory fads.

I was looking forward to reading this. My mother was recently diagnosed with with Alzheimer's and I was looking for information on how other families coped with deciding to move someone with dementia who may or may not be willing to move. This book really deals with the move once the decision was made. It does not address the nitty gritty process of coming to the conclusion that the mother would be better off in a home dedicated to dementia patients. The decisions are agonizing and that point seems to be glossed over a bit with a couple of pages on guilt and sort of summed up with "it just doesn't work for our world and our lives." I do not fault the writer's decision by any stretch of the imagination. Caring for an Alzheimer's patient at home would tax even the strongest of souls. I don't know if I am equipped to handle it. But I really would have liked a more day-to-day chronicle of what went into the process of deciding on an assisted living community rather than taking her into one of their homes. It is very touching in parts but it was not the book I thought it was going to be.

This is a lovely story composed of the aithor's actual journal. We should all have such a "gone with the wind" childhood. Most of us didn't-even fellow Tennesseans.That said the best part of the book is the last ten or so pages where she offers good advice in the subject of demented parents/ family.A nice read but not a great source of coping mechanisms desperately needed by adult children and relatives in this situation. And it WAS her diary afterall so no promises made on the front end.

I enjoyed this book because of the author's candor and brevity of her story. Our own family situation isn't anything like the author's, but I was able to gather strength from her experience. Her suggestions at the end of the book are helpful for anyone going through this.

Very timely for families experiencing this disease. It helps you understand the symptoms and how to deal with them.

Sally Hughes Smith's first-person narrative walks us along a path of joy, loss, love, and acceptance. "The Circle" is a soul-searching blend of romantisim and pragmatism in which she shares with us the compassionate plan of action that she and her family implemented to cope with what is becoming a crisis for more and more families. As a practicing psychotherapist I have recommended her book to many of my collegues working with families who have loved ones diagnosed with Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease. This book is destined to become a useful tool for most, if not all of us.

Sally Hughes Smith has done a service for all of us who have aging parents as she tackles hard issues with robust honesty, vivacity, humor, and a beautiful grace. I love the freshness of her journal writing as it allows the reader into the immediacy of her wonder and dismay as events unfold, as it reveals the ache of a long love for her mother, and as she reveals a slow awakening within herself. The fact that all of the proceeds of this book go to medical research for Alzheimer's reflects a generosity already palpable in this book. It is rare to find something so genuine, unedited, eruptive, and real.

A warm, positive, honest account of the emotional journey of dealing with a parent who is aging with memory loss. Sally wrote this as a diary and friends suggested she publish it. Everyone has something to learn from this book as we are all aging. I recommend that health professionals read this , esp medical students but really it applies to all families as we will all have to deal with the loss of a parent at some stage. A very worthwhile book, and it makes a great gift.