“Not buying it, huh?” My mother acknowledged her assertion that the woman she pointed out at the rehab center as being her dead husband was a bit of a stretch. But this was the kind of conversation I had with Mom as her cognitive abilities declined and her psychosis fully bloomed. The true, heart-wrenching, and yet hilarious stories at the center of Dementia Sucks were borne of a journal and blog that author Tracey Lawrence kept as her mother transformed from classic Jewish mother, to mildly forgetful Floridian grandma, to geriatric delinquent removed by police for knife-play at a rehabilitation facility. Really. Tracey’s journey takes her from being an established graphic artist in northern New Jersey through bouts of full-time, hands-on caregiving of both her aging parents. She discusses many of the common challenges families face, and provides a humorous and highly educational perspective on her emotionally charged ride through geriatric illnesses, doctors, hospitals, insurance, facilities, family dynamics, and much more. Anyone who has family members they care about will want to read this book. Whether dementia visits or not, some aspect of Tracey’s caregiving journey will likely resonate with, amuse, and enlighten you. The trick to surviving loss after loss is to find the humor in it all and avoid punching anyone, least of all yourself. This irreverent look shows you the way.

About the Book: What is reality? What is clarity? How to shape human life and wellbeing? These three are the most fundamental, eternal, and universal questions of humankind. Human life is an intrinsic organic unity of all three questions and their dimensions. Purposeful and joyful living is impossible without deep understanding of this organic unity which is mainly controlled and influenced by intrinsic laws or phenomena— the invisible driving force of human reality and flow of life. The essence of clarity: clear, clean, and neutral understanding of reality. Clarity creates value and shapes better life. Stupidity destroys value and sucks life. Stupidity is the source of all human miseries in individual's life, society, country, and the world at large. Clarity is the secret power to transform humankind. For the first time in history, this book has tried specifically and exclusively to explain, and highlight the essence, relevance, and significance of intrinsic laws to discover the power of clarity to shape mind, better life, and human wellbeing—health, happiness, and contentment This book is timeless, universal, relevant, and extremely useful for all people across the cultures and countries of the world for profound clarity to ensure living rightly and completely.

Do they call menopause "the change" because... You have to change shirts three times a day-after you've sweat through them? You have to change addresses, just to avoid all that mail from the AARP? You have to change your diet to nothing but milk and broccoli—just to get your RDA of calcium? With hot flashes, mood swings, and night sweats (oh, my!), menopause might not be your favorite phase of life. However, bestselling author Joanne Kimes is here to provide relief as welcome as hand-held fans and sweat-free sheets. In her signature, no-holds-barred style, Kimes dishes on: Dealing with a rollercoaster of emotions Anecdotes, remedies, and gentle tips to help you cope with all the physical changes you're facing How to enjoy menopausal sex Menopause brings about a whirlwind of emotional and physical transformations. Menopause Sucks gives you all the info—and belly laughs—you need to cool down during this hot change of life.

The surprising true story of one woman’s journey through the nightmare of losing both parents to dementia, as she learns that a sense of humor is mandatory for survival. “Not buying it, huh?” My mother acknowledged her assertion that the woman she pointed out at the rehab center as being her dead husband was a bit of a stretch. But this was the kind of conversation I had with Mom as her cognitive abilities declined and her psychosis fully bloomed. The true, heart-wrenching, and yet hilarious stories at the center of Dementia Sucks were borne of a journal and blog that author Tracey Lawrence kept as her mother transformed from classic Jewish mother, to mildly forgetful Floridian grandma, to geriatric delinquent removed by police for knife-play at a rehabilitation facility. Really. Tracey’s journey takes her from being an established graphic artist in northern New Jersey through bouts of full-time, hands-on caregiving of both her aging parents. She discusses many of the common challenges families face, and provides a humorous and highly educational perspective on her emotionally charged ride through geriatric illnesses, doctors, hospitals, insurance, facilities, family dynamics, and much more. Anyone who has family members they care about will want to read this book. Whether dementia visits or not, some aspect of Tracey’s caregiving journey will likely resonate with, amuse, and enlighten you. The trick to surviving loss after loss is to find the humor in it all and avoid punching anyone, least of all yourself. This irreverent look shows you the way.

Age no longer mattered as I watched and waited while my husband disappeared into the desert of dementia. I had to keep living while this happened and the realities set in. Do you think you know your family and friends? This is when you really find out. There are legalities to be considered, and what you thought was within your vows suddenly become non-existent. Blended families are an added burden to the legalities. If I looked at people as separate persons before, I really do now. Do we know how much of the responsibility for ourselves is unconsciously handed over to our marital partner? We find out when someone we love falls into the abyss of dementia and we have no way of helping. Dementia does not mean you die a slow death with them. It means gritting your teeth and moving forward in whichever direction is healthiest for you. This is about the gauntlet that no one is prepared to run. Your spouse may not know you anymore, but you certainly find out who you are! Caregiving has suddenly taken on a whole new meaning, and it needs to be defined more appropriately for the caregiving survivors. Society needs programs to address the mental and physical health of caregivers, whoever they are. I have considered many times not publishing this book, but it is as honest as I can be.

To come to terms with her mother’s dementia, writer Suzanne Finnamore’s groundbreaking new memoir conceptualizes dementia as an actual, albeit rather magical, place, “like the Acropolis or Yonkers…a place where beloved and ancient queens and kings retire, where linear time doesn’t exist, and the rules of society are laid aside…. Whenever I go to my parents’ double-wide in Hayward, California, I am really traveling to Dementia.” My Disappearing Mother: A Memoir of Magic and Loss is far more than a memoir on the devastation that comes with dementia, a cognitive impairment that affects 55 million people worldwide. Finnamore beautifully chronicles her mother’s rich and varied life journey, from her birth in Puerto Rico during the height of the Depression to ferrying to the United States, in hopes of a better life. On U.S. soil, her mother, Bunny, started working as a performer for enlisted men, then became a secretary, and eventually a professional clairvoyant. With unexpected humor, Suzanne explores the feeling of love, grief, family, and loss while celebrating the bonds between mothers and daughters. In Suzanne’s words, “I want a book that attests to the fact that in a world full of disease, there is an abiding and supernatural force of love. That because of this, the sadness and the horror can be borne. That laughter can live alongside grief. That it must.” When Suzanne’s guest essay “Dementia Is a Place Where My Mother Lives. It Is Not Who She Is” was published in the New York Times on Mother’s Day 2022, readers responded with an outpouring of empathy and love. And so this book was born, full of clues and guidance to help others feel less alone on the path that Finnamore has walked.

Here's a once in a lifetime opportunity (at least that's what my critics are hoping for) to read my third book. If you already know me, you fully understand the full import as enshrined in the title of what I mean when I say "It Sucks To Know Me". For those causal acquaintances, here's your last warning: run, don't walk, before it's too late. For once you open this book, your psyche will never be the same. Your mind might explode as you try to reconcile the concept that Karl Marx had a number of good sayings while you're cheering loudly at a Tea Party rally. As I said to my sister after she hadn't spoken to me for six months after reading my first book, I didn't kill any people in my book, they were just lawyers. I was fortunate to have another six months of peace until her brain finally was reset and she forgot why she was no longer speaking to me. For my part, my brain edit function is still out for repair (by court order). I invite all of you to contemplate this as you read this book: Do you consider it to be a worthy addition to the world's literature or would it have been better if I was never born? Send you votes to my mom who's agreed to tally them for me.

“Refreshingly smart, witty, and sophisticated . . .” —Natalie Symons author of Lies in Bone, on The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon “Propulsive, addictive, with lush, visceral prose and richly-layered characters . . .” —May Cobb, author of My Summer Darlings, on The Murder of Madison Garcia The summer of ’69: memorable for some, murder for others. Detective Susan Ford and her new partner, Detective Jack Tomelli, are called to a crime scene at the local summer stock theater where they find the director of Murder on the Orient Express gruesomely murdered—naked, face caked in makeup, pillow at his feet, wrists and ankles bound by rope. When Susan describes the murder to her dad, retired detective Will Ford, he recognizes the MO of a 1969 serial killer . . . a case he worked fifty years ago. Will remembers a lot of things about that summer—the Woodstock Festival, the Apollo 11 moon landing, the Miracle Mets—yet he is fuzzy on the details of the decades-old case. But when Susan and Jack discover the old case files, his memories start trickling back. And with each old and new clue, Susan, Jack, and Will must narrow down the pool of suspects before the killer strikes again. For readers who enjoy mysteries by Richard Osman, Stacy Willingham, Charlie Donlea, Benjamin Stevenson, and Shari Lapena.

Collection of 267 poems and 23 short stories and fables.

This enlightening volume provides first-hand perspectives and ethnographic research on communication at the end of life, a topic that has gone largely understudied in communication literature. Author Elissa Foster’s own experiences as a volunteer hospice caregiver form the basis of the book. Communicating at the End of Life recounts the stories of Foster and six other volunteers and their communicative experiences with dying patients, using communication theory and research findings to identify insights on the relationships they form throughout the process. What unfolds is a scholarly examination of a subject that is significant to every individual at some point in the life process. Organized chronologically to follow the course of Foster’s involvement with hospice and the phases of the study, the book opens with Part 1, providing background and contextual information to help readers understand subsequent stories about communication between volunteers and patients. Part 2 of the volume emphasizes the adjustments required by the volunteers as they entered the world of hospice and the worlds of the patients. Part 3 underscores the importance of improvisation and finding balance within the role of volunteer—in particular how to be fully present for patients as well as their family members. The volume concludes with Part 4, which addresses how volunteers coped with the death of their patients and what they learned from the experience of volunteering. Communicating at the End of Life is appropriate for scholars and advanced students studying personal relationships, health communication, gerontology, interpersonal communication, lifespan communication, and communication & aging. Its unique content offers precious and meaningful insights on the communication processes at a critical point in the life process.