Miracles All Around Me - The Unexpected Gifts of My Mother's Alzheimer's

by Marsha L. Burris

Memory is that handy pouch we use to keep our experiences safe until we can pull them out later for examination. But Alzheimer’s chipped away at Rusty’s memories, as well as her sharp intellect and keen wit for the last decade of her life. It made no dent in her strength and courage, though, as she faced the incredible challenges of her husband’s stroke, her son’s death, and her own decline. Rusty remained a force of nature and the glue that held her family together even as she approached the hour of her own death.

This book is an affectionate and gritty account of the author’s efforts to care for her mother. It explores how their relationship was sustained in spite of the plaques and tangles strangling the life from Rusty’s vital neurons. It’s a story of survival, of human resiliency, and most of all, it’s a love story.

Anyone caring for elderly parents or confronting end-of-life matters will want to read this mother-daughter story. And when you’ve read it, you may sympathize with the author, but you will root for Rusty.

342 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2014

About the author

Marsha Burris has deep roots in the red clay of North Carolina. After earning undergrad and graduate degrees in Sociology and History, Marsha taught Ancient and Medieval European history and was a Research Analyst at University of North Carolina (Charlotte) until retirement.

Marsha's latest book, The Polished Moon, is now available. Based on a true story, The Polished Moon follows the exploits of First Lieutenant Dorothy Chinnis who served as an Army Nurse Corps surgical nurse throughout three European countries during World War II. Dot was twenty-one when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. After graduating from nursing school in Charleston, South Carolina, Dot volunteered for overseas duty. She said goodbye to her home, her family, and her sweetheart, Jack Light, an intelligence officer with the 100th Infantry Division. Global events placed 5000 miles and the Atlantic Ocean between them, but by a quirk of fate they met again in France. In her diary, Dot chronicled her days as she patched brave soldiers fighting abroad. She ate camel stew in North Africa, witnessed the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy, and ducked for cover during German air raids in France. For her, life and death and love and romance, played against the backdrop of war. The war touched every soul on earth. This inspiring story profiles the bravery of one of those souls.

Miracles All Around Me, The Unexpected Gifts of My Mother's Alzheimers is a memoir about the author's mother who battle early-onset Alzheimer's Disease for the last decade of her life.

Paradox of Professionalism: American Nurses in World War II is a monograph detailing the contributions of young nurses who volunteered for duty in Europe during the Second World War.

In addition to the obvious interests in history, Marsha enjoys travel and coffee with friends. She lives in her beloved hometown of Charlotte, NC.

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read quite a few books about Alzheimer's Disease and this one has to be the story that touched me the most. It mirrored my own journey with my grandmother's struggle with the disease in many, many ways. This is a heart-wrenchingly honest portrayal of the stages we go through with this disease and the author lays it all out in a genuine, straight-forward narrative that had me crying, laughing, and nodding many times in understanding. It is a portrayal of deep pain but also a story of ultimate triumph in overcoming this horrible disease and the tragedies the author faced on her journey. By the end of the book, I was able to look back on my own journey with my grandmother and her caregiver, my mother, and realize that we, also, had our little miracles. I also realized that although we felt very isolated and alone during our own struggle with this disease, we were never alone... so many people are having to take this same journey and I urge anyone who has, or is going through, a struggle with Alzheimer's to read this book. It is enlightening, helpful, and a glimmer of light in the darkness that is Alzheimer's Disease.