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Rating: 
Summary: An Important Book
Review: Elizabeth Cohen pulls no punches in this beautifully-written story of the year she served as caregiver to her father, Sanford, who struggled through the late-middle stages of Alzheimer's disease. Suddenly the single mother of a toddler and responsible for Sanford's care, she sets down a record of her daughter's growth, her dad's decline and her own struggle as a caregiver. In this unsentimental, yet lyrical book, Cohen writes about her father's tantrums, having to clean him after he has soiled himself, and her difficulty finding daytime caregivers while she works. She also writes about their deep moments of connection that transcend the logical workings of the mind. As she records this watershed year, she finds both meaning and grace in her role as daughter and caregiver. The strongest point that this book makes is that Alzheimer's disease does not dissolve relationships; it transforms them. After caring for my father, who had progressive dementia for over four years before his death, I regard this book as a gift and an inspration. A caregiver's job is a lonely one. No matter how much we try to connect with support groups and with other family members, we must shoulder an overwhelming responsibility. Books that detail the stages and symptoms of Alzhiemers and tell caregivers how to cope are important. The Family on Bearstown Road is a guide of another sort that is equally important.
Rating:
Summary: An Important Book
Review: Elizabeth Cohen pulls no punches in this beautifully-written story of the year she served as caregiver to her father, Sanford, who struggled through the late-middle stages of Alzheimer's disease. Suddenly the single mother of a toddler and responsible for Sanford's care, she sets down a record of her daughter's growth, her dad's decline and her own struggle as a caregiver. In this unsentimental, yet lyrical book, Cohen writes about her father's tantrums, having to clean him after he has soiled himself, and her difficulty finding daytime caregivers while she works. She also writes about their deep moments of connection that transcend the logical workings of the mind. As she records this watershed year, she finds both meaning and grace in her role as daughter and caregiver. The strongest point that this book makes is that Alzheimer's disease does not dissolve relationships; it transforms them. After caring for my father, who had progressive dementia for over four years before his death, I regard this book as a gift and an inspration. A caregiver's job is a lonely one. No matter how much we try to connect with support groups and with other family members, we must shoulder an overwhelming responsibility. Books that detail the stages and symptoms of Alzhiemers and tell caregivers how to cope are important. The Family on Bearstown Road is a guide of another sort that is equally important.
Rating:
Summary: Beartown.......A Road Worth Traveling
Review: I've never been to Beartown Road but thanks to Elizabeth Cohen's vivid portrait of her life there, I've come to know the place. She writes in such a way that I "felt" the seasons change as well as "saw" the changes in Elizabeth and her family. Elizabeth's struggles were portrayed with clarity, warmth, honesty, and poignancy. In describing what life was like on Beartown Road, Elizabeth's sense of humor carried her and this reader through the hassles and triumphs.
I once read a quote that went something like this, "You're never ready for what you have to do. You just do it." That's what Elizabeth did as she undertook the care of her aging, ill, father, Sandy, and the nurturing of her blossoming infant daughter, Ava.
I laughed, I cried, I related. I highly recommend "The Family on Beartown Road."
Rating:
Summary: The Family on Beartown Road
Review: The House on Beartown Road tugged at bitter-sweet memories as I identified with the craziness we all go through trying to do all the necessary and out of the ordinary things as a mom, daughter and full time career counselor. The humor, pathos and frenetic moments stood out in the book as universal elements all of us go through when parents become children and out of necessity give us over their life. As Ms. Cohen remarked "the usefulness of being constantly busy gave me little time to think about all the things bothering me," with a new full time job, a house to run with three active children, and a run away mom who came to visit me and never went home again. As she described in her book, life takes a toll on everyone in our immediate families and it takes a long time for life to ebb and flow into any kind of natural order. Sometimes I feel that my mom died cell by cell. Elizabeth Cohen helped me remember what I went through but more importantly, find closure. I thank her for putting into words the impossible things that we go through to cope and make life work.
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