Cover -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface to the Paperback Edition -- Acknowledgments -- Part One: Caring and Caregiving -- Introduction to Part One: An Explanation of A Return Journey -- One: The Enormity of It All -- Two: My Mother's Story -- Three: The Most Hurtful Things -- Four: Developing a Caregiver's Mindset -- Five: Day by Day with the Stranger -- Six: A Few Extra Moments, Please -- Seven: Tales of Laughter and Love -- Eight: Guilty Decisions -- Nine: With Every Goodbye We Learn -- Part Two: What's it Like to Be ...? -- Introduction to Part Two: What's it Like to Be ...? -- Ten: Children in the Family -- Eleven: The Smudged Years -- Twelve: Faith, Hope, and Love -- Epilogue -- Notes -- Appendices -- Appendix A -- Appendix B -- Appendix C -- Appendix D -- Resources
Summary
What choices were right, what choices were wrong, and how can she now help those whose journey is just beginning. She clearly and wisely explains that in Alzheimer's there are no right" ways, no "best" decisions, no "perfect" answers. The Return Journey is the result of Sue's personal journals during her mother's 8-year illness and her correspondence with other caregivers kind enough to share their innermost feelings and emotions. Their stories provide the reader with an insider's view - lessons to be learned from looking through the personal peephole of family members at the heart of the experience itself."
