Book Review: Before I Forget

Before I Forget: Love, Hope, Help, and Acceptance in Our Fight Against Alzheimer's

“I know where I’m going. I’m still myself. I just can’t remember things as well as I once did. So on short trips, I work hard not to be confused. I’ll say to myself, What are we going to do? How long are we staying? It’s like I’m talking to my other self—the self I used to be. She tells me, This is what we need to buy—not that. I’m conscious of that other self guiding me now.”

Restaurateur, magazine publisher, celebrity chef, and nationally known lifestyle maven, B. Smith is struggling at 66 with a tag she never expected to add to that string: Alzheimer's patient.  She’s not alone. Every 67 seconds someone newly develops it, and millions of lives are affected by its aftershocks.

B. and her husband, Dan, working with Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson, unstintingly share their unfolding story. Crafted in short chapters that interweave their narrative with practical and helpful advice, readers learn about dealing with Alzheimer's day-to-day challenges: the family realities and tensions, ways of coping, coming research that may tip the scale, as well as lessons learned along the way.

At its heart, Before I Forget is a love story: illuminating a love of family, life, and hope.

My Review: 

This book was heartbreaking for me especially because my grandmother just died and she had Alzheimer's.  The disease is real and scary.  It confuses everyone.  I loved reading this because much of it was written from the woman who is struggling with Alzheimer's.  Her viewpoints were different from what we often hear about and see.  We imagine what it is like to deal with someone who has the disease but we often don't think about how the person with the disease feels. 

This is a great book and unfortunately it is one that we all could use on our shelves.

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.