Our Dementia Journey

A collection of heartfelt and emotional poems about one family’s journey including messages of hope and advice for those on the same journey

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Pub Date 18 May 2022 | Archive Date 18 Feb 2023

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Description

From Our Family to Your Family - Sharing Our Journey to Help Your Journey

"I know well that families coping with dementia find useful insights, tips, acknowledgement, and empathy in a myriad of forms. For those who embrace the soothing, probing wisdom of poetry, we now have Pat McTaggart's Our Dementia Journey. 'Everyone has a poem in them,' Pat writes. This parental tribute is a fount of affirmation for those of us touched by Alzheimer's--and may even inspire you to pen your own."

“A wonderful tribute and aid.”

Paula Spencer Scott, Award-winning journalist and author of Surviving Alzheimer's: Practical Tips and Soul-Saving Wisdom for Caregivers

“This collection of poems that Pat has written is both touching and uplifting. It shows the heartache and the love present in his family’s dementia journey.

We’re so grateful to Pat for supporting Alzheimer’s Research UK. Fantastic fundraising efforts like this collection of poems will help us to make life-changing research breakthroughs for people with dementia.”

Bernie Carranza, Regional Fundraising Officer at Alzheimer’s Research UK

A collection of heartfelt and emotional poems about one family’s journey with dementia including messages of hope and advice for those on the same journey.

At the same time it is an uplifting collection of poems in its own right showing the power of the human spirit to overcome challenges with faith, hope and love.

Written from the perspective of a son caring for his Dad who has dementia and his Mum who has other health issues, the poems take us through the family's dementia journey and include reflections and thoughts on different aspects of the journey from the perspective of his Dad, as well as the rest of the family.

A series of poems also looks at the emotional challenges faced by carers who can feel all sorts of emotions, often all at the same time and how they need to find a way of caring for their loved one while also coping and caring for themselves.

Some poems in the collection also look at the impact of the Covid Pandemic and also the Dementia bigger picture in terms of the Dementia "pandemic" that the world is facing.

The author has written this collection of poems as a celebration of his Mum and Dad and the family's love for them.

It is also his strong hope that the messages in the poems help others avoid some of the pain and emotional stresses he suffered and that there are there are one or two nuggets in the book that will be helpful to others at some stage of their journey.

All author royalties for the book will go to Alzheimers Research UK the world's largest dedicated dementia research charity who do research worldwide aimed at finding a cure for the dementia.

The author also invites readers to benefit from the power of poetry and contribute a poem for publication in a further collection of poems again to be published in aid of dementia charities.

More details on the book and the author at:

www.poemsfordementia.com

I hope you enjoy the book and will be be kind enough to leave a review and a rating on Amazon

From Our Family to Your Family - Sharing Our Journey to Help Your Journey

"I know well that families coping with dementia find useful insights, tips, acknowledgement, and empathy in a myriad of...


Advance Praise

Rachel Deeming Reviewer

Loved it! 😍

A collection of poems, heartfelt and honest, written by a man caring for his elderly parents, one of whom, his father, has dementia

SYNOPSIS

A collection of heartfelt and emotional poems about one family's journey including messages of hope and advice for those on the same journey.

At the same time it is an uplifting collection of poems in its own right showing the power of the human spirit to overcome challenges with faith, hope and love.

Written from the perspective of a son caring for his Dad who has dementia and his Mum who has other health issues, the poems take us through the family's dementia journey and include reflections and thoughts on different aspects from the perspective of his Dad, as well as the rest of the family.

A series of poems looks at the emotional challenges faced by carers who can feel all sorts of emotions, often all at the same time and how they need to find a way of caring for their loved one while also coping and caring for themselves.

Some poems in the collection look at the impact of the Covid Pandemic and also the Dementia bigger picture in terms of the Dementia ""pandemic"" that the world is facing.

Author Royalties go to Alzheimers Research UK who do research worldwide aimed at finding a cure for dementia.

To say I loved this poetry collection sounds a bit disingenuous considering the subject matter as dementia is not cheery at all or anything to be loved; quite the opposite. But I did love this collection, and this is because of the relatability of it. My grandmother had Alzheimer's and whilst I was not her carer, the feelings that Patrick McTaggart's poems evoke are ones that I have seen play out in front of me in my own life experience and can empathise with to a great degree.

This collection is many things: it is an expression of love for parents; it is a declaration of emotion; it is a sorting through of feelings; it a collection of grumbles; it is a lament for things lost; it is a guide to advise; it is a reflection of experience; it is a philosophical discussion. There is a lot contained here and that is understandable as getting to grips with a life living with dementia and what that entails is extremely involved on many levels.

I like reading things where I feel like the writer is honest; that what I am reading is heartfelt and not contrived and McTaggart's poems are full of true feeling. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried when reading some of them, like ""Hold on to Me"", ""Love conquers all"" and ""Silent Scream"", recognising in the words the difficulties faced by a carer for someone with dementia along with the reserves of human spirit that it draws on on a relentless basis, without respite; and seeing the people you love diminished before you, whilst still containing the essence of the person you have always known and loved.

It is a serious issue but McTaggart is also keen to emphasise that it is not all gloom. There are moments of joy, happiness that must be grasped and his poems highlight these and how important they are, like panning for gold, the glints in the seemingly inexhaustible detritus.

What I got mostly from this book, emphasized by the fact that the Alzheimer's Society will benefit from sales, is the sense of solidarity that McTaggart is keen to transmit with his words: that this is something that we might all face and it will be hard but not insurmountable and that there will be help and support, highs as well as lows: there will be a way through.

Paula Spencer Scott Author of ""Surviving Alzheimers""

""I know well that families coping with dementia find useful insights, tips, acknowledgement, and empathy in a myriad of forms. For those who embrace the soothing, probing wisdom of poetry, we now have Pat McTaggart's Our Dementia Journey. 'Everyone has a poem in them,' Pat writes. This parental tribute is a fount of affirmation for those of us touched by Alzheimer's--and may even inspire you to pen your own.""

“A wonderful tribute and aid.”


Peter Burgham Poet

A Light in the Dark

With wonderful generosity of spirit, Pat McTaggart opens the door on the inner sanctum of his family's emotional struggles with dementia and physical disability. Sharing the benefits of his experience in caring for his elderly parents, he helps us to view dementia from a variety of different angles, shining a light in the dark, and promoting the belief that 'love (and science) conquers all'.

Using the conciseness of the medium of poetry ('a poem paints a picture') to highlight his core messages, he brings us noteworthy images and phrases: 'the Dementia Train', 'the Dementia Dad and Dementia Son', 'dementia...like a thief in the night', 'the silent scream' and 'the crying room'.

With an endorsement from Alzheimer's Research UK, and royalties dedicated to them, 'Our Dementia Journey' is a succinct and heartfelt account of the issues surrounding dementia and the challenges faced by sufferers and carers alike. The personal nature of the content serves to add depth and quality to the work, making this an invaluable aid, comfort and guide to all those confronting the ordeal of this cruel illness.

We should all be grateful to Pat for this contribution to our understanding of how dementia affects lives.

More reviews on Amazon

Rachel Deeming Reviewer

Loved it! 😍

A collection of poems, heartfelt and honest, written by a man caring for his elderly parents, one of whom, his father, has dementia

SYNOPSIS

A collection of heartfelt...


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ISBN 9798813517464
PRICE $5.95 (USD)
PAGES 117

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Featured Reviews

Having never written poetry before, Patrick has released a collection of thoughtful and informative poems documenting the struggles of caring for a parent with Dementia.

Though I have never had a family member diagnosed with Dementia, I've known quite a few community members who have. Reading this was a great insight into the heartbreak, frustrations, and love necessary for their care. I enjoyed reading poems from different perspectives. It really felt like I was hearing the thoughts of his father and the disconnect between memory and mind. The mildest thought I had was that some of the poems felt formulaic. It was as though the author felt like he *had* to rhyme, which made some lines a little too wordy. Outside of that, I was impressed with how Patrick was able to convey his emotions. This is something I'll be recommending to family and friends that can find comfort in these poems.

The end of the book has information on how to submit poetry. If you or someone you love has Dementia I recommend you check out the Poems For Dementia website. Even if you don't view yourself as a poet it could be beneficial to write what you feel or read other people's thoughts to ensure that you're not alone. https://www.poemsfordementia.com/

All proceeds from this book go towards Alzheimers Research UK to find preventions, treatments and a cure for dementia.

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An affecting, sometimes heartbreaking collection of poems about living and caring for a father with dementia. Much was relatable to my own life, having taken care of an elder grandmother, and some was particular to the author's experience. A wide variety of poems though some do become repetitive later in the book.

Recommended for those who have or will some day be dealing with a similar journey.

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Dementia is a disease that literally robs people of experiencing and remembering life. As a neurology nurse practitioner I work with patients, caregivers, and family members who are impacted by dementia’s of various types and this is probably one of the hardest illnesses for families to deal with as they watch their loved one change before their eyes. I will be recommending this book to my newly diagnosed patients.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

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I am currently going through a jounrey with my Grandfather who we thought had dementia but a couple of months ago got dianosed with a terminal end stage brain tumour. Therefore this was both a hard read but also a compfrting one, I saw so much of my grandfather in the authors dad.
An utterly heartbreaking, thought provoking and yet also full of hope and insights. A wonderful collection of poems

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