Measure of the Heart: A Father's Alzheimer's, A Daughter's Return

This poignant memoir mixes both a heart rendering account and factual information on the disease of Alzheimer’s. Geist’s depictions of her father’s decline, her mother’s coping, and her own grappling with the disease are riveting. In fact, each chapter could be used alone to explore a variety of topics, such as the family dynamics involved with deciding who will provide care or the complexities of the healthcare system. The one issue that was never mentioned by the author, though, was the fear of becoming afflicted with the disease herself. This powerful book is a must for a book club.

October 2008 was my first time to make a request as a new Early Reviewer. I applied for quite a few because I didn't really expect to be picked and so many books interested me. However, when I did receive this particular book I was shocked. I thought I had avoided requesting it because it was about a daughter whose parent had Alzheimer's and I just didn't think I could handle the subject. You see, my mother had been diagnosed about eight months before and I wasn't ready to know "how the story ends."
So it took me about two months to make myself pick up "Measure of the Heart" and start reading it. The only reason I did was because I was obligated to write a review since I had received the book for free through the Early Book Reviewers. show more I am so thankful for taking that step.
Mary Ellen Geist is a very brave woman who left a high profile, well paying career to go home to be with her over-burdened mother and to spend the time she had left with her father who had Alzheimer's. What an incredible inspiration she is to anyone who has a family member with the challenge of this overwhelming disease. She writes in such a gentle," sisterly" manner as she openly shares her emotional ups and downs that you feel like you could call her and cry on her shoulder if you needed to. But the one thing she does not do is whine or play the martyr. She just tells it like it is and shares some very intimate moments along with some unique and cherished ones. What you are left with is a feeling that you were very blessed to have been allowed to enter the privacy of her family as they struggle, love, fight off the craziness, laugh, cry, love some more, and try to make every moment count. Thank you Mary Ellen for sharing with us in this intimate way through your book. show less

How It Is Living with Alzheimer’s

Mary Ellen Geist left a stellar career as a radio broadcaster to move home and help her mother take care of her father, Woody, a sufferer of Alzheimer’s. She did not know, could not know what she was in for.

Like so many daughters who move home to cope with this devastating disease, Geist experienced moments of sweetness, hours of frustration, days of pain as she watched her father slip away. Her dreams of rescuing her mother from the pain of a spouse with Alzheimer’s faded away to a more realistic view of the disease and the problems that inevitably accompany it. Their world, once expansive, contracted as friends slipped away. This is how it is living with Alzheimer’s.

Geist has created a fine show more volume. Her writing shines and is even lyrical at times. Her pain is clear; the gifts this disease brought her also clear. Hers is a book to make the tears flow, and mine did as I recalled my own father’s descent into darkness.

If there ever were a reason to make every possible effort to avoid Alzheimer’s or any other the other dementias associated with aging, Geist provides it. Read it. Weep and laugh with her.

Godspeed Woody. Godspeed Mary Ellen. Well done. show less

This was a truly heartbreaking read. Author Mary Ellen Geist is very candid with her experiences as a caretaker to her father suffering from Alzheimer's. She discusses how he deteriorates and how she and her family deal with each and every nuance of the disease. Her ability to put her feelings into words was the best part of the book for me. I could really feel what she was going through. I think any caretaker of an Alzheimer's patient would be able to relate to this book. One thing that I would have liked to have seen was an epilogue of sorts telling the reader what she and her father are doing now. The entire book was spent pulling the readers into her family's life and the end just stops with nothing to tell us how the story ends. Is show more she back to her "normal" life? Did her father finally have to go to a group home? The book doesn't tell us. show less

A beautifully written book outlining the author's return home to help her mother take care of her father who is suffering from Alzheimers. While Geist loves her father and learns much about life and herself through being a caregiver, she also paints a realistic picture of the trials and strains involved in the process. As more of us find ourselves in the role of caregiver, this book will provide support as well as encouragement.

Mary Ellen Geist left her broadcasting career to help her mother care for her father affected with Alzheimers disease. Beautifully written, this work gives a personal perspective on The 36 hour day, a classic on Alheimers care. While not avoiding the frustrations,the author focuses on the connections and joys of caregiving, the day to day working with what her father is now, and the memory of what he once was.

This is a very sweet story about a father that has alzheimer's and his daughter that moves back home to help her mother care for her father. I believe that it would be a good book for someone that is caring for a person that has the disease. She gives a lot of very good information. I would have enjoyed the book more had it only been about the relationship with her father and not had all the other info in it. I don't want to take away from her story because it is a nice read but I just didn't enjoy the details about the alzheimer's.