A Story of a Marriage Through Dementia and Beyond is the
extraordinary, unflinching account from sociologist Laurel Richardson of
her love and caregiving through the last period of her husband Ernest
Lockridge's life - from his transient amnesia to his death from Lewy
Body Dementia.
Focusing on the lived experience of the caregiver through the loved
one's journey from mild cognitive impairment to death, the book gives
the reader the experience of what the medical diagnoses mean and what
has led up to the loss. It shows the complex, nuanced lives of a couple
both living with the worst effects of a disease like Lewy Body Dementia,
while maintaining, sometimes with hope and laughter, their loving
connection nourished through a 40-year marriage.
Dementia is a 'silver tsunami' - the third leading cause of death
amongst senior populations. Richardson's beautifully written book gives
on-the-ground emotional support to those already in service as
caregivers and helps prepare others for such service. Hospices, book
clubs, and medical and allied professionals will find this book
extraordinarily valuable. Weaving in autoethnographic and sociological
methods and scholarship, as well as a list of reading and further
resources for caregivers and scholars, this book will also appeal to
courses in a wide range of disciplines and fields, including health
communication, nursing and allied health, courses covering death and
dying, end-of-life, and illness care, and, of course, scholars pursuing
autoethnography, creative non-fiction, and qualitative methods.
