We interrupt your regularly scheduled summer for breaking news…our author’s preview books have arrived!! We can hold them in our hands! The cover is beautiful and smooth enough to pet! The colors are soothing. The picture is peaceful. It looks just like we had imagined it! The inside is easy to read. Each week is highlighted by a graphic. The sections within each week are clearly marked. The font is clean and simple. The lined pages invite readers to write their thoughts and feelings as they ponder each week.

When we started this journey, Melinda and I did research. We immediately looked for resources. We found facts about the disease. We found strategies on how to help Mom. We found information about medications, doctors, and treatments. What we didn’t find is any books that dealt with the caregiver directly; how hard the journey is emotionally; how to adjust to having a loved one who is dependent; how to handle the ongoing grief. So…we decided to write one and now it’s a reality!!

Each time we came across a topic and said, “I wish we knew how to…” or “I wish I didn’t feel so overwhelmed, unmotivated, and tired…”, we wrote it down. Soon we had quite a long list, 52 weeks’ worth of I-wish-I-had-known ideas. We determined a journal format would allow caregivers to dig into their own process. To have a safe place to honestly write down how they are coping with the changes that caregiving brings. It is our hope this will be a resource which will encourage caregivers, and that they will use it again and again.

Our book has been born!! We are giddy with excitement. The labor, the work, the endless reading and editing…all the effort is worth it. Just like childbirth, the pain is forgotten and the celebration has begun. Thank all of you for believing and encouraging us to write this book, for ordering, and sharing it with friends and relatives. We are happy to share our journey if it can help others with theirs.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programing…