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PRAISE
for
FIERCE BLESSING

"This is the best book on Alzheimer's I've ever read."

- Carolyn Carter, ACSW, hospice worker

"I'm sure I'm not the first person to say that I feel I know you, having just finished FIERCE BLESSING. I thought it was terrific--straightforward, moving, and filled with love. I'm glad to hear that it's getting attention and getting readers. It should. It's just plain a good book and deserves all the readers it can find."

- Janet Anderson
Children's Author

"I'm half way through my copy of Fierce Blessing and can't put it down. It's mesmerizing -- sweet, frustrating, funny, infuriating, loving."

- Alison Cook

"What a gift this book is. I can't stop thinking about it. It's profoundly spiritual, and profoundly human."

- Kathy Waeckerle, RN

"It touched me, and it taught me."

- Laura Venable,
family caregiver

If you're beginning this journey, read it for guidance; if you've completed this journey, read it for comfort and perspective; if you're not on the journey, read it for sheer delight. Fierce Blessing is a remarkable story, superbly told, and a glorious gift to caregivers or any other reader in need of respite, resolve, or restoration of spirit."

- Wendy L. Bonifazi, RN, CLS
Editor in Chief, "Advice & Advances" Alzheimer's Resource
Senior Staff Writer, "Nursing Spectrum"

"I was struck by its beauty and honesty."

- Kathy Torrence,
Teacher

"A book that should be read. Indeed, long-term care staff everywhere should be required to read it."

- Mike Davis,
Long-term care chaplain

"Well written, attention-holding, uncompromisingly honest.
An undercurrent of joy and peace mingled with tender grief leaves the reader with hope, not for [physical] healing . . . but for the beauty of lessons learned along the way."

- Writer's Digest

"Compelling. I could not stop reading."

- Kate Viggiano,
Hospice Foundation of America

"I have just finished reading "Fierce Blessing" and am awestruck by it.

I have been an RN for 27 years, working with the aging population for nearly half of that. I also watched my mother die of breast cancer over nearly 6 years. Your moving account of your experience should be required reading for anyone who is a caregiver.

Although your personal process revolved around Alzheimer's Disease, so much of it translates equally well to any slow and relentless disease process. I applaud your courage through the process and in sharing it with others. I am happy to tell you that the organization I work with gives copies to family members [whose family member has] an Alzheimer's diagnosis."

- Laura Allender, BSN, RN, MS

"I was deeply moved by this beautifully written journal chronicling a mother's advancing age, her declining health and abilities, and the authors' efforts to provide her with loving care. My thanks to Terry and Wayne for sharing their mistakes and accomplishments, their struggles and fears, their profound insights, their joy and love and laughter. All were gifts to me."

- Gary Sumner, Rehabilitation Counselor, retired

"Highly recommended."

- Midwest Book Review

"If you find yourself midstream in the journey of caring for an ailing parent, this beautiful book can illuminate the way. Terry and Wayne offer a rich, loving, sage, and even humorous look at caring for and saying goodbye to those we love. There's great wisdom here about what really matters."

- Susan Skog
Author of Radical Acts of Love: How Compassion is Transforming Our World

"The most extraordinary memoir I've ever read.

With humor and candor, the authors share their confusion, frustration and hard-won clarity, sweeping readers along for their heart-rending, yet heart warming journey through the worlds of dementia, chronic illness and long term care. It's a readable, sometimes rollicking tale of family life, family conflict, and coming to peace, told with honesty and compassion. Its painful insights and poignant inspiration make it essential reading for anyone involved with Alzheimer's disease or long term care, showing all of the ugliness and all of the astonishing joy and beauty of both.

- Wendy L. Bonifazi, RN

"An amazing and wonderful book. I have rarely read a story--at once true and true-to-life--which transmits so powerfully the humanity and personality of the affected individual. A story well-told and a book well worth reading."

- Dr. Cheri Quincy
Medical Internist and Osteopath in women's medicine and geriatrics

"My own father's bout with Alzheimer's and how he and I lived with it are perfectly recollected in Fierce Blessing. A book to be read on many levels, this compelling journal captures the moments, the sparkle, the pain, and even the unexpected humor in what can seem an unending nightmare to all involved.

More than anything, this book shows Alzheimer's is not a sentence of terminal aloneness for the sufferer of this disease or for the family member(s) who choose, or are chosen, to be the immediate care-givers, believing they have nowhere or no one to turn to. Herein is proof of a noble humanity alive in even the worst of times!"

- Jeff Hoffman
family caregiver

"Thank you for writing such a gentle and loving guide to maintaining and even enhancing a relationship affected by difficult circumstances."

- Ferne Barnett

"You don't have to know an Alzheimer's patient to love this book. It's about human beings and how an extremely difficult period of their lives gives rise to growth and grace for each of them.

The authors did a beautiful job of helping me, the reader, experience this with them--the struggles, the humor, and the lessons in giving unconditional love and living in the moment. Their story proves to me that a person's essence doesn't disappear along with mental functioning, and that it is still possible to have a loving and vital relationship despite the losses."

- Carol Carey,
public school educator of homeless children

"I just finished the book today and want to thank you for being so open about your experiences and your feelings. In many ways, I could see my Mom in what you were describing. In others, I know that her time is still to come. I hope Fierce Blessing reaches the people who most need to hear your very important message."

- D. Hildebrand

"Fierce Blessing is a gift from the heart. You'll laugh, you'll cry, but most of all you'll come away with a greater appreciation of life and the love that binds us."

- Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D.
Author of Stand Like Mountain, Flow Like Water and Stressed is Desserts Spelled Backward

"What a compelling book! I HAD to read Fierce Blessing every night before I could go to sleep. It holds great value for all kinds of caregivers and situations, and the journal format is so easy to read."

- Marilyne Brooks, Hospice volunteer

"A poignant chronicle."

- Paul Bell, PhD
Director, Colorado State University Center on Aging

"A must-read for anyone who has a parent."

- Glen Price

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