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by Carolyn Bagnall (Author)
"Lyndon's Fog" weaves together an eclectic group of past vignettes with present events which are echoed by many families who encounter Alzheimer's. Exploring the topics of memory loss and taking responsibility while wading through the mucky morality of the diminishing brain is a wild ride. Every caregiver will grapple with either living lies or telling lies. A desperate lie is told to try to help the author's father believe the truth that his wife is dead. With a fragile mind, simple tasks like cooking and driving become impossible. Even though they grieve and fight their loss of independence, the care giver also grieves and fights to take on the responsibility of caring for their loved one. Juggling all these balls in life are compared to a memorable raft ride down a raging river. The journey begins with frustration, confusion follows, and nonsense swallows up reality. Filters on speech seem to fail, life values appear to be in flux, losses on every front increase, but joy can be found in the story of living. Recording the tenderness of her father's missed speech on her wedding day because he was thoughtfully driving his own dementia diseased mother-in-law back to the nursing home, embodies the cycle of life's motto-- love equals family and families love. Sweeping up a crawling carpet of white maggots out of the back of a jeep and fishing a wallet out of a smelly outhouse will bring tears and laughter that meld together as you enter this family's encounters. These and more treasured stories are crafted into a beautiful authentic tale of life shared. You will enter the emotional roller coaster and finally grieve when he breathes his last breath and death comes, even like taxes, inescapable; but there is purpose, even in all of this.
