Unplanned Journey: Understanding the Itinerary

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Summary: A Book About the Uncertainties of Life
Review: Susan Miller's Unplanned Journey is a must read for anyone who finds themselves thrust into the unwelcome role of care giver for an Alzheimer's patient. But it is so much more than a poignant rant against an undesirable fate. By unflinchingly sharing her deepest and most private feelings in free-flowing verse, Ms. Miller reminds us that we all face enormous uncertainties in life and to cherish every day we are allotted and every loved one.

In her mid 50's, Susan learns that her husband Don is a victim of early-onset Alzheimer's disease. They have been together as a couple since childhood; their lives are fully invested in one another through a lifetime of love, child rearing, hard work, friendships and dreams. They have reached a point in life that is comfortable and plan with certainty a glorious old age full of travel, and the joy of following their passions. Then the dreaded diagnosis of Alzheimer's for Don grabs them, scrambles their lives, and dashes their dreams, leaving nothing but uncertainty.

I was moved, often to tears, by so much of the book: The initial shock of the diagnosis--why couldn't it have been a brain tumor, or even a sexually transmitted disease, anything but Alzheimer's. The indecisiveness they faced over how and when to tell friends and then the gradual disappearance of those to whom they thought were close. The unspeakable sadness and anger experienced as a life-partner is gradually transformed into a dependent invalid. Most moving was the loss of the small everyday events that are shared by all couples, such as the kiss that had been the traditional end of every Vermont get-away weekend.

This book is about the terror of Alzheimer's disease, but it is also a poignant lesson about how we must strive to live our lives even in the best of times. Read Susan's moving verse and ponder her willingness to share so much of her inner self, let yourself cry as you feel the destructiveness of a terrible disease, then renew your resolve to live your life fully every day.