Somebody I Used to Know: A Memoir
Journals and memoirs, Death and bereavement
Synthetic audio, Automated braille
Summary
A brave and illuminating journey inside the mind heart and life of a person with early-onset Alzheimer s disease Lisa Genova author of Still Alice Wendy Mitchell had a… busy job with the British National Health Service raised her two daughters alone and spent her weekends running and climbing mountains Then slowly a mist settled deep inside the mind she once knew so well blurring the world around her She didn t know it then but dementia was starting to take hold In 2014 at age fifty-eight she was diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer s In this groundbreaking book Mitchell shares the heartrending story of her cognitive decline and how she has fought to stave it off What lay ahead of her after the diagnosis was scary and unknowable but Mitchell was determined and resourceful and she vowed to outwit the disease for as long as she could As Mitchell learned to embrace her new life she began to see her condition as a gift a chance to experience the world with fresh eyes and to find her own way to make a difference Even now her sunny outlook persists She devotes her time to educating doctors caregivers and other people living with dementia helping to reduce the stigma surrounding this insidious disease Still living independently Mitchell now uses Post-it notes and technology to remind her of her routines and has created a memory room where she displays photos with labels of her daughters friends and special places It is a room where she feels calm and happy especially on days when the mist descends A chronicle of one woman s struggle to make sense of her shifting world and her mortality Somebody I Used to Know offers a powerful rumination on memory perception and the simple pleasure of living in the moment Philosophical poetic intensely personal and ultimately hopeful this moving memoir is both a tribute to the woman Wendy Mitchell used to be and a brave affirmation of the woman she has become Advance praise for Somebody I Used to Know Somebody I Used to Know is both an indispensable guide for people grappling with the consequences of a dementia diagnosis and a stirring account of courage in the face of devastating loss Booklist starred review This is an eloquent and poignant book Those of us who have gone on the heartbreaking journey of losing a loved one to dementia have wondered what they were feeling Wendy Mitchell s courageous and unflinching account lets us know Patti Davis author of The Long Goodbye