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The Memory of All That: A Love Story about Alzheimer's
From the award-winning bestselling author of books about autistic and learning-disabled children, Mary MacCracken, comes an engaging memoir of love, marriage—and Alzheimer’s. Braving divorce to be together, Cal and Mary help each other overcome setbacks in their work. Cal’s inventions are increasingly successful; Mary’s first book is published to much acclaim, followed by three more. It seems nothing can stop them.
Then Alzheimer’s strikes. Always a fighter, Cal vows to beat his disease, while Mary finds ways to sustain their loving life together, devising ways to help Cal as he falters. She herself is helped by good doctors, social workers, and many friends—a whole community of care.
Still, all the support in the world can’t stop Cal’s decline. He goes missing at night, flees his daycare program repeatedly, and must finally go to a memory unit. But even then, he and Mary share bits of happiness. In the end, they fail to beat Alzheimer’s. Yet their story is also one of triumph, as their love persists all through and beyond their battle.
Poignant and inspiring, The Memory of All That is a beautifully written love story that offers guidance and comfort to those dealing with dementia, or any of life’s challenges.
Then Alzheimer’s strikes. Always a fighter, Cal vows to beat his disease, while Mary finds ways to sustain their loving life together, devising ways to help Cal as he falters. She herself is helped by good doctors, social workers, and many friends—a whole community of care.
Still, all the support in the world can’t stop Cal’s decline. He goes missing at night, flees his daycare program repeatedly, and must finally go to a memory unit. But even then, he and Mary share bits of happiness. In the end, they fail to beat Alzheimer’s. Yet their story is also one of triumph, as their love persists all through and beyond their battle.
Poignant and inspiring, The Memory of All That is a beautifully written love story that offers guidance and comfort to those dealing with dementia, or any of life’s challenges.
- GenresNonfiction
185 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 26, 2022
6 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 6, 2024
A beautiful story about loving well until the very end. Be prepared to shed a few tears!
August 26, 2025
When I first read Mary MacCracken I was eleven. I fell in love with her storytelling and the groundbreaking work she did with autistic children.
In her final book, THE MEMORY OF ALL THAT, MacCracken writes about herself and her marriage to her beloved husband Cal. A brilliant inventor, his first signs of Alzheimer’s disease were subtle, forgetting how to spell and confusing words. Mary shows readers Cal’s heartbreaking descent into AD, the tough decisions she had to make and how the seven adult children in their blended family helped support both Mary and Cal.
I wouldn’t have read a memoir about dealing with a spouse’s AD by a writer other than MacCracken. The depth of Mary and Cal’s love leaps off the pages into my tear ducts. She writes of struggles and tiny successes, accepting her husband as he was in the present while simultaneously grieving the man he was and their life before AD. Mary MacCracken’s patience and determination, with her students as they slowly progressed and her husband as he regressed is nothing short of heroic. Her humility wouldn’t allow her to see herself in that way, but I bet most readers will agree with me.
Cal dies in 1999. Mary lives until 2014.
In her final book, THE MEMORY OF ALL THAT, MacCracken writes about herself and her marriage to her beloved husband Cal. A brilliant inventor, his first signs of Alzheimer’s disease were subtle, forgetting how to spell and confusing words. Mary shows readers Cal’s heartbreaking descent into AD, the tough decisions she had to make and how the seven adult children in their blended family helped support both Mary and Cal.
I wouldn’t have read a memoir about dealing with a spouse’s AD by a writer other than MacCracken. The depth of Mary and Cal’s love leaps off the pages into my tear ducts. She writes of struggles and tiny successes, accepting her husband as he was in the present while simultaneously grieving the man he was and their life before AD. Mary MacCracken’s patience and determination, with her students as they slowly progressed and her husband as he regressed is nothing short of heroic. Her humility wouldn’t allow her to see herself in that way, but I bet most readers will agree with me.
Cal dies in 1999. Mary lives until 2014.
August 5, 2022
really sweet couple and story, and a good look into living with someone who had Alzheimer’s. Reads very quickly.
September 4, 2023
This is the love story I would want for myself. Not the terrible illness of Alzheimer’s disease that robbed Carl of his memory and personhood, but the enduring love deeply felt by both Carl and Mary. Alzheimer’s is a horrible illness that affects so many people involved. But Mary writes and reflects her experiences with both grace and loving kindness, and her love for Carl is evident in all pages, even in the short diary entries. It had me cry much towards the end, as Carl’s illness became more advanced. This book is one example of why I have so much respect and love for those suffering from Dementia and their loved ones.
June 7, 2023
"The Memory of all that: A love story about Alzheimer’s" is a beautiful page turner story about the challenges Alzheimer disease brings to the people affected by it and their loves one. This is a published posthumously memoir of a woman who took care of her husband as he progressed from being healthy through the phases of Alzheimer's cognitive decline and dementia.
A touching short story that shows how love is the key to overcome any obstacle, no matter the circumstances.
Juan Alejandro
A touching short story that shows how love is the key to overcome any obstacle, no matter the circumstances.
Juan Alejandro
March 28, 2023
Just saw this on the display area for nonfiction at the library and read it all in the same day. It is a clear and heartfelt telling of having a husband with Alzheimer’s. I appreciate that it exists.
October 20, 2022
Beautiful story about a beautiful marriage.
November 29, 2022
I read this because I needed to read it right now - and it gave me a strength and calm I didn't realize I needed. Thank you, Mary and Cal.
May 5, 2025
7 years. From first noticing changes to death by pneumonia.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews