Releasing the Butterfly: A Love Affair in Four Acts

ISBN: 0578784874

Author: Sherman, Max

Condition: New

In Releasing the Butterfly, Max openly shares his devastation, struggle, fear, and reality of not physically losing Gene Alice, but losing her to another world, in the grip of dementia and Alzheimer's, where not only was he no longer known or recognized, but where he felt helpless in protecting and caring for his vibrant, independent, strong-willed, beautiful wife and best friend. Max found himself on a new journey of trying to navigate this horrible disease, learning how best to communicate, understand, and care for Gene Alice, and, most importantly, ensure her safety; now a caregiver with no guidebook.- Jenny Sarpalius, Journal of Alzheimer's DiseaseReleasing the Butterfly is a love story that follows the decades-long relationship of a couple who met as teenagers by happenstance at a jail in the Texas Panhandle and find happiness in all situations...including Alzheimer's. These descendants of blue-collar parents, raised in a tradition steeped in education and faith, became friends through a shared love of literature, theater, film, and music. Having come of age in the 1950s, they would have to negotiate the terms of their relationship to ensure a wholly equal partnership. They would learn how to navigate a life together, find fulfillment, and, ultimately, confront a heartbreaking challenge that threatened to upend their happiness and their own self-identities. Any proceeds from this little book will go to Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminarys program in sacred music.