- Genre:family & relationships
- Sub-genre:Eldercare
- Language:English
- Pages:332
- eBook ISBN:9781543989014
- Paperback ISBN:9781543989007
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Overview
A Bittersweet Goodnight is a the journey of a 50 year relationship with my step-mother which was often tense, sometimes filled with laughter and blind to the love and friendship we didn't know we shared. With no biological children of her own, I was left to decide how June would spend the final years of her life as she fell into the depths of dementia. Years before, she designated the cherished keepsakes I'd grown to love, to others. Next to my name on her list was 'box of family and personal papers'. I sadly sent away her possessions believing this tattered old shirt box couldn't possible hold anything of importance. The box contained cards and letters from friends and family, many sent after my father's funeral 25 years earlier. The story told within cast me as a child in the center of a divorce, pushed me to the outside of a new love affair and showed me the path to the woman I am today. It will appeal to many baby boomers caught in the middle of their changing lives while caring for aging parents. It will also appeal to the step community which often struggles with their own sense of belonging inside divided families.
A Bittersweet Goodnight has been named a Finalist at the 14th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards in the Memoir category.
Description
June, my strong-willed stepmother, lived alone into her nineties—until dementia slowly began to claim her mind. With no children of her own, I became her reluctant caretaker, bound by a promise to my late father to look after “his Junie.” After the 2008 recession uprooted my life, I did what I could from afar—until a crisis forced me back into June’s world. What followed was a painful, often lonely journey through denial, anger, and unexpected grace. As I helped her transition into assisted living and sorted through her belongings, I discovered a box filled with old letters that opened a window into the woman she was—and the quiet love we had built through years of struggle. This is a story about family not by blood, but by choice, and the healing that can come at the end of a difficult road.
