C-Sharp Minor: My Mother's Seventeen-Year Journey through Dementia

by Deborah P. Hall

“Her life was a song.” Thus did Mom’s obituary sum her up. Seventeen years before her death, however, that song began to change, shifting into darker and eventually agitated tones. Still, up until the end, it never ceased. Here is the full course of her Initial subtle changes, increasing memory loss, paranoia, agitation, delusions, and frustrated helplessness but also faith, humor, and “diamonds,” those occasional bright and beautiful moments glittering amidst the coal. Ultimately, it is a story of peace and release, as well as the renewed discovery that, “In the darkest valley, there is music for that. In the longest night, there still is music for that.”

199 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 28, 2018

Reviews

[Deborah P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: I am the author. C-Sharp Minor is my tribute to "the most thoughtful, determined, feisty, remarkable woman I have ever known." Mom was an indomitable spirit, and this book covers not just her dementia but also sets the stage with her life. You will get to know the woman as she was, as I remember her. She was the patron saint of down-on-their-luck cats, and cats of the neighborhoods found her promptly everywhere she lived. She loved music with a passion, throwing her heart and soul into choir, hand bells, and listening at concerts. She had a deep, unshakeable faith and told her children of her own imperfections and need for forgiveness. Flowers and gardening were also her special hobby, and the story is included of how she "vandalized" the county square once by planting bulbs there in the middle of the night after they had refused her permission to provide flower beds herself and care for them because it would be "too much trouble." The world needs flowers, and it will dadgumit get flowers. She asked first, but the world was getting flowers with or without permission. That was Mom.

Then the disease. It is covered honestly, dark days as well as lighter. It is not one tale of doom and gloom; in the end, it is a healing and victory. There is an entire chapter on humor, yet the downs of this horrible disease are covered openly. In the end, the book is a reminder that "In the darkest valley, there is music for that. In the longest night, there still is music for that."

10% of anything I make from this book is donated to the Alzheimer's Association.

[Rena Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A near diary of the progression of a disease that steals a person's life from the inside out. The subject seems to speak 'sadness", but it is written with love, humor and joy, an odd combination, and very well done.