This was a well written and heart wrenching story of a Harvard psychology professor who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease. I have not had any experience with this disease and was not even aware of the fact that that it can affect younger people and that it can be highly genetic. Although this is a fictional story, it is written by a woman who has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience so I feel like I learned a lot and that it was pretty true to real life. I'd be curious to hear from someone who has been close to the experience, but it seemed like this could have been a true story.
At first, Alice would forget little things here and there, but it was the day she got lost blocks from her house that she knew something was wrong. Sometimes we all feel like we are losing our minds, but I can't imagine how scary it would be to really start losing your memories and rational thought patterns. To forget where you are and who you are, and to have your family members talking about you like you're not even in the room because they know you can't keep up with their conversation. Early onset Alzheimer's tends to progress much faster than it does in elderly people, so Alice's life took a very sharp turn away from everything she had worked her whole life for. She has to deal with the shame of not being able to perform in her highly intellectual profession, the anger and frustration that her family has to endure, and the fearful realization that her life would not turn out the way she had hoped. Keep a Kleenex box around toward the end, you will need it.
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