The 1950s was a time of great prosperity for many Americans.
Gerard and Christina van Amstel came to America with many dreams
and hopes. They worked hard, educated themselves, assimilated into
American culture and raised a family. Gerard and Christina always
worked as a team, so they always shared the financial and domestic
responsibilities of the family. It was this equal sharing and
mutual respect that made them happy as a family and successful as a
couple. Gerard and Christina bought several homes during their
working life, raised three children, vacationed every summer and
looked forward to a comfortable and much anticipated
retirement.
Then life delivered a cruel blow: Christina developed
Alzheimer's disease. The disease progressed slowly at first with
memory loss and confusion, symptoms most people could shrug off as
stress related. When Christina lost the ability to complete simple
tasks like following a recipe she had used for 20 years, refused to
drive the family car because she feared she could not find her way
home and began drifting often into the past with little recall of
daily events, it was clear the disease had become debilitating.
This is not a story of shattered dreams. It is the story of one
couple's struggle with Alzheimer's and a healthcare system that
provides marginal care for the elderly and their afflictions. It is
also an account of Gerard's attempt to bring care and compassion to
people affected by dementia and the millions of elderly trapped in
the nursing home industry.
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