The Aging Brain

I don’t think I’ve ever shared it here before, but Ryan’s grandma has dementia. When we first got married, we lived across the highway from her. We visited a few times and noticed she seemed to not be herself but things just kept getting worse and worse. She was frequently losing her keys, often confused about what day it was or who she was talking to, and on a few occasions I couldn’t be certain but I felt pretty confident she thought she was talking to me in a different state and decade.

Before that, her father had Alzheimer’s. The family watched him disappear as a complete stranger took over his body and the stories have always broken my heart.

Because of this, I have always worried about whether or not Ryan will someday wake up and have no idea who I am. It’s a hard, heartbreaking thing to think about so I mostly try not to… but when The Aging Brain popped up in my list of potential review books I jumped at the chance to read it and see just what I might be able to do to make a difference for my honey’s future.

I will freely admit that there isn’t really anything in this book you can’t find online somewhere, but the way it’s written made it still worth the purchase in my opinion, at least if you have family history of dementia and/or Alzheimer’s. Not only is it nice to be able to reference all of these things, but there is a spirituality aspect that I can’t help but love. God is a ribbon running through every part of our lives but it often seems from books and movies that He is just something we do on Sunday mornings or when things get rough. This book brings balance to this and I am always especially happy to find health-related books written from a Christian perspective.

*I received a free copy of this book from Baker Books in exchange for an honest review.