Jan's Story by Barry Petersen 362.196 Pet

This is a tear-jerker! Written by CBS News Correspondent, Barry Petersen, it is the story of his wife Jan and the devastating diagnosis that changed their lives in an instant. Jan has Alzheimer's. I have read several books dealing with this subject but this one is different. Usually it is a child dealing with his/her parent or someone dealing with his/her spouse after 50+ years of marriage. In this case Jan was 55 when she was diagnosed. Of course the symptoms started long before the diagnosis. Looking back it was easy to see when things started changing- but it just doesn't occur to anyone to suspect Alzheimer's at the young age. It is very well written and you can feel his pain as his vivacious wife was lost to him and replaced by a needy, temperamental child-like person. Emotionally it is not an easy book to read, but there are many lessons to be learned from his journey.