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Essential Guide for Caregivers of Parents with Dementia: Proven Strategies to Support Mental Clarity, Extend Independence, Plan for What’s Ahead, and Avoid Burnout
This book is a heartfelt and deeply practical guide that walks readers through every emotional and logistical step of caring for a parent with dementia. Wesley Thomas blends personal stories with grounded advice, weaving a clear roadmap for families who suddenly find themselves in the role of caregiver. The structure, organized around his “Circle of Care™” framework, covers recognition, adjustment, connection, protection, sustenance, compassion, and restoration. Each chapter moves from understanding to action, explaining not only what to do but also how to stay steady while doing it. The tone is warm and conversational, yet it never shies away from the hard parts. Thomas offers real-world tools for everything from home safety to medical decisions, while constantly reminding readers that love and dignity should guide every choice.
Thomas’s writing is simple and kind, never clinical or distant. He tells stories that feel real, the confusion of early signs, the ache of lost connection, the quiet grace of small wins. I appreciated how he didn’t drown the reader in jargon or pretend there’s a one-size-fits-all plan. Instead, he speaks directly, like a friend pulling up a chair and saying, “Here’s what helped me, and here’s what might help you.” His emphasis on self-care resonated with me. Caregivers often forget themselves in the process, and his reminders to rest, breathe, and seek help felt both necessary and comforting. Some moments are tough to read because of their honesty, but that’s part of the book’s strength. It makes you face the pain while showing you how to survive it.
Emotionally, this book left me both drained and uplifted. Thomas captures the heartbreak of watching a loved one fade but also the unexpected beauty that can appear in small gestures of patience and humor. His compassion is contagious. I found myself slowing down, reflecting on how I treat my own family, and realizing that caregiving is as much about who we become as it is about what we do. The writing is full of short, punchy sentences that carry weight. It’s not polished in an academic way. It’s real, raw, and human. That’s what makes it powerful. I could feel his sincerity in every chapter, and it kept me reading even through the heavier sections.
I’d recommend this book to anyone caring for a parent, spouse, or relative with dementia, and honestly, to anyone preparing for that possibility. It’s perfect for readers who crave guidance but don’t want to be overwhelmed by medical language. It’s for those who want a companion more than a manual. Essential Guide for Caregivers of Parents with Dementia gives both knowledge and hope, and it leaves you feeling less alone.
Pages: 156 | ASIN : B0FPTTKBJ6
The Edge of Now
The Edge of Now is a raw and heartfelt travel memoir by Thom Barrett that weaves together the physical landscapes of South America and Antarctica with the internal terrain of a man living with stage IV cancer. It chronicles Barrett’s journey through Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and beyond, all while confronting his own mortality, redefining resilience, and wrestling with the question of how to live fully when time is uncertain. The book is structured around a physical expedition and a spiritual one, framed by his ARC Cycle—Awaken, Release, Change—and grounded in mindfulness, vulnerability, and deep reflection.
Reading this book was like sitting across from someone who’s been to the brink and come back with stories that matter. Barrett’s writing is lucid and personal, unflinching in its honesty. He doesn’t sugarcoat the toll illness has taken on his body, or the creeping doubts and insecurities that threaten to erode his sense of self. But his words are never maudlin. Instead, they carry a weight that feels earned. The balance between travel writing and personal introspection is beautifully done. Descriptions of thundering waterfalls or Antarctic silence fold seamlessly into thoughts on impermanence, love, and what it means to have enough. I found myself lingering on certain passages, not because they were complex, but because they hit so close to home.
What moved me most was the way Barrett writes about acceptance, not as some passive surrender, but as an act of courage. He challenges the reader to rethink what strength looks like. It’s not climbing the hardest peak, but knowing when to ask for help. It’s not pushing through at all costs, but listening when your body says stop. This hit me hard. His decision to value quality of life over extending it at all costs is presented not as defeat, but as deeply human. He writes like someone who’s let go of pretending and is inviting you to do the same. There’s a peace in that, and it’s contagious.
The Edge of Now isn’t just a book about dying. It’s a guide to living—not later, not when things are easier, but now, in all its messy, breathtaking glory. I’d recommend this to anyone who’s ever felt stuck, scared, or just unsure of how to keep going. It’s especially for caregivers, patients, and wanderers, anyone straddling the line between holding on and letting go. Barrett’s journey is personal, but his insights are universal. This book doesn’t just ask you to read—it asks you to feel, reflect, and maybe even change.
Pages: 291 | ASIN : B0F3367892
Hope is Our Story
In Seeking Clarity in the Labyrinth: A Daughter’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s, you share your family’s experiences following your mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, how you navigated her care, and the grief of losing her to this disease. Why was this an important book for you to share?
When it was clear we were well into our journey with Alzheimer’s, and my Uncle and Aunt passed (complications with Parkinson’s & Alzheimer’s) I started writing to heal myself. As I shared it with my Dad, it became clear our story may be able to help others. The journey of losing a loved one includes so many emotions–fear, anger, pain, sadness, love, grief. My hope is our story can help others in their journey.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your family’s story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?
Much of the story was written in relatively ‘real-time.’ As I read it now, I am not sure if I would have been able to capture some of the raw, intense quality of my writing. Her passing ended up being this beautiful gift for both myself and my dad. If I went back and wrote it now, I do not know if it would have translated. This, however, was not the hardest part–those sections in the middle, when I was angry with her and the situation…those parts were hard to write about.
What is a common misconception you feel people have about caring for a family member suffering from Alzheimer’s?
Too often we believe we have ‘lost’ our loved ones. Yes, in many ways they are lost or ‘gone’ but, truly, we have just lost a version of them. Their essence is still there. They may not talk or walk, and often our loved ones may be angry or even nasty, but they are still human. They are still our people. If we are able to remember that, remember them in their entirety, we can help care for them more easily. If we can meet our loved ones where they are, we are truly seeing them.
What is one thing you hope your readers take away from your experience?
I hope my readers laugh, cry and embrace the sweet and fragile joy of life, in its raw, sometimes nasty and tragic ways. Life is beautiful, in all the ways we are able to see it.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | LinkTree | Amazon
Do you need help navigating despair and frustration and seeking a different path of acceptance?
This book is not for everyone. It is brutally honest. Glossing over the despair of Alzheimer’s Disease serves no one. This book is for those willing to explore the stages of Alzheimer’s and accept the uphill journey of navigating the loss of a loved one with dementia.
Not only that, but this book also teaches you how to:
Navigate your own grief and loss
See and accept your loved ones on their journey
Find and celebrate the simple gifts life has to offer
Understand the Labyrinth as a healing tool
Learn about Palliative Care, Hospice Care, and Memory Care Facilities
Witness one family’s tragic and hopeful acceptance of loss and love
One daughter’s journey sets the scene for a raw 13-year transformation to acceptance. The Labyrinth serves as a tool of healing. This book helps explore ways to see and honor your loved one even when you feel lost on the path.
Seeking Clarity in the Labyrinth, A Daughter’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s is thoughtful, honest, uplifting, and tender. You will be transformed.
For a limited time, download this remarkable book at a temporary introductory price!
Seeking Clarity in the Labyrinth: A Daughter’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s
Losing a loved one to Alzheimer’s is a journey without a roadmap. It can be mercifully brief or agonizingly prolonged, with each family’s path uniquely different yet heartbreakingly similar. In her deeply personal and cathartic book, Jessica Stokes delves into her family’s experience with this disease, often termed “the longest goodbye,” as she witnessed her mother’s cognitive decline. The narrative highlights how Alzheimer’s impacts not only the diagnosed individual but also the entire family, necessitating extensive care and adjustments. This story will resonate with many.
Seeking Clarity in the Labyrinth: A Daughter’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s is a poignant memoir by Jessica Stokes that serves as both a personal account and a therapeutic exploration. Beyond detailing her family’s 13-year journey with her mother’s Alzheimer’s, the book delves into themes of grief, balance, acceptance, change, and, above all, love. Stokes recounts the gradual loss of her mother, sharing how she learned to embrace the evolving versions of her. While not always consistent in this endeavor, she navigated the situation with resilience, steering through unwanted yet unavoidable challenges.
The narrative, though mostly linear, mirrors the workings of memory, where a small detail can spark an entirely new recollection. The book also carries a spiritual undertone, exploring concepts of life, death, and the possibility of an afterlife. The mindful and intentional journey of the labyrinth—both as a concept and through specific examples worldwide—was a constant presence for Stokes and her family, eventually becoming a metaphor for their experience. The labyrinth in her parents’ backyard, lovingly constructed by family members, symbolizes a sanctuary, providing peace within a convoluted path. Stokes revisits this imagery throughout her book, using it to illustrate the emotions accompanying the disease’s progression.
This book will be painfully familiar to those who have lost or are in the process of losing a loved one to Alzheimer’s. It offers comfort in a shared experience. Despite its deeply personal nature, Stokes’ story resonates universally. Even readers without direct experience with Alzheimer’s may relate to the gradual loss of a parent. Stokes writes with clarity and frankness, delivering a story that is heartfelt and heartbreaking.
Pages: 136 | ISBN : 978-1955683418
LITERARY TITAN 