One Daughter’s Hopeful Story
By 8:20 all eleven residents are sitting at three tables, placemats and silverware set before each, glasses of water or juice or both, cups of coffee for those who want it. Hayes, who is ninety-one, is currently the only man in the neighborhood. In the world of Alzheimer’s, as in the larger word of the elderly, women significantly outnumber men. At Maplewood right now, of thirty-nine residents living in four neighborhoods, only four are men. Hayes is the oldest and has been here the longest.
*Note: This book can be found under two titles, Dancing with Rose and Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimers.
Winner, Pacific Northwest Book Award & Oregon Book Award
Kessler enlists as a bottom-of-the-rung caregiver at the Alzheimer’s facility and learns lessons that challenge what we think we know about the disease in this emotionally resonant narrative.
The Reviews are In…
“Heartening and thought-provoking…Kesssler’s feelings as a daughter and her experiences as a caregiver add up to a touching read, and the book offers some unusual ways to think about living and dying with the disease.”
—The Seattle Times
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A miracle of caring…
Lauren Kessler manages to humanize the victims and shine a clear, compassionate light on those who struggle to care for them. Anyone affected by the disease has to read this book.
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…a magnificient book. I read it mornings and evenings on the train, Kleenex in hand, weeping. But laughing too. I have to thank you for really opening my eyes to the humanity of a group of people…
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Profound… Kessler learns that rather than stripping humanity away, dementia lays it bare.
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This is the true brilliance of “Dancing With Rose.” It upends our assumptions and forces us to ask: What do I have to hold on to? Who would I be if my memories were stripped away? What is my essence?
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…an excellent book…an emotional and ruminative anchor. She leaves her readers with hope
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…a gifted writer. Warm, uplifting, even hopeful…this book [is] a refreshing standout.
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Excellent… a powerful lesson in the humanity of those we often see as tragically bereft of that quality.
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