The Family on Beartown Road: A Memoir of Love and Courage

This book moved my husband, me, and the women in my spirituality group. Many people deal with the poignancy of Alzheimer's. Few deal with a new baby and an absent husband at the same time. Elizabeth Cohen's writing is lovely and keeping up with her daily life is a compelling read.

The House on Beartown Road tugged at bitter-sweet memories as I identified with the craziness we all go through trying to do all the necessary and out of the ordinary things as a mom, daughter and full time career counselor. The humor, pathos and frenetic moments stood out in the book as universal elements all of us go through when parents become children and out of necessity give us over their life. As Ms. Cohen remarked "the usefulness of being constantly busy gave me little time to think about all the things bothering me," with a new full time job, a house to run with three active children, and a run away mom who came to visit me and never went home again. As she described in her book, life takes a toll on everyone in our immediate families and it takes a long time for life to ebb and flow into any kind of natural order. Sometimes I feel that my mom died cell by cell. Elizabeth Cohen helped me remember what I went through but more importantly, find closure. I thank her for putting into words the impossible things that we go through to cope and make life work.

I've read and reviewed lots of books about Alzheimer's, but I think I can honestly say this is the most beautifully written that I've ever read. Elizabeth Cohen, at the time a single parent, writes of her baby girl Ava's growing and learning at the same time that she write's of her retired Economics professor father's forgetting and his descent into Alzheimer's disease. Set in a rural New York state farmhouse, the events of daily life bring both tears and laughter, and the helpful caring neighbors warm our hearts. Every time I began reading, I didn't want to put down this book, and yet, I didn't want to finish because I knew how I would miss Elizabeth, her Daddy, baby Ava, Jody the helpful caregiver, and all of the wonderful neighbors that surrounded them. Highly recommended, a must read for all caregivers of Alzheimer's patients!

Single mom Elizabeth Cohen records her life as her toddler daughter grows up while her father descends into Alzheimers (and she has sole care of both of them). Cohen finds poetry rather than tragedy as her daughter and father cross paths: daughter Ava surging into consciousness, learning new words by the hour, father Sanford finally forgetting even his name.I am overwhelmed by the truth of this poetry, because I am in a similar situation: my father-in-law was diagnosed with dementia a few months after my daughter's birth. As Dad has declined, my daughter has thrived. It is undeniably sad. Yet they are central to each other's worlds; even on days when Dad seems to know no one, you can tell he remembers G. You can tell she loves him and he loves her even though they can't speak. A greater theme in Cohen's book is the power of community; her neighbors help her bear her burdens (chopping firewood, shoveling her driveway, watching Ava), just as she helps her father bear his. Thus, even if you are not directly touched by Alzheimer's or the like, this well-written and touching book is likely to resonate with you too.May the world still be this way when we are older.

Every day in my work as a Long-Term Care Insurance Specialist I work with families as they try and develop a Strategy to deal with the the potential for a love one or themsleves needing long term care. In most cases until something happens to one's own family most people are in deniel. "It will happen to someone else but never to me or our family." I always try to paint a picture for potential clients by using my own families experiences with needing care to make the issues more real. From now on I will just give them a copy of the book. It will do a much better job.I read the "House On Beartown Road" in one sitting on a rainy Sunday with tears in my eyes as I finally understood how lucky my own family was to have had my mom as a fulltime caregiver to both sets of grandparents as well as my father over a period of years. People like Elizabeth Cohen and my mom are great examples of loving family members that did what needed to be done with grace, dignity and a sense of humor. I didn't understand or fully appreciate the concept of being a caregiver while running around in my on life and watching my mom from a distance but after reading the book I sure did!I strongly suggest that every adult with aging parents read the book today as tomorrow may be to late. It will make you think in many different ways. For some reason I really think the author wrote the book to help the rest of us to be better prepared to deal with this growing national crisis of aging parents. Thanks to Ms. Cohen.Th